Currency??

Can I use US dollars in Phuket or do I need to echange for BAHT?

Currency??

No, the currency of Thailand is the baht. Unlike Laos or Cambodia, dollars are not normally accepted on the street, except of course at currency exchanges.

Change your greenbacks in Thailand for a much better exchange rate, or, better still, use ATM machines for cash at the best possible retail rate.

Currency??

I always wonder why Americans expect other countries to accept the %26#39;mighty%26#39; US$ in day to day transactions. There%26#39;s no where I know of in the US that accepts Euros, Baht, etc so why expect us to use the $?

Rufus, if Laos is now making moves to restrict the use of USD, that%26#39;s good news. It was always a pain, when travelling there, to have to carry 2 currencies around.

But maybe they could also revalue the kip so it%26#39;s worth more, or issue higher-denomination bank notes.

When I was last there - a couple years ago - 20,000 kip was the biggest banknote, only worth something like $2. And there weren%26#39;t even very many of them around either.

Bill, the 50,000 kip came in about 3 years ago. I agree, they could use a 100,000 kip note, but sometimes its hard enough to get change for 50,000.

Hey Dragon,

It%26#39;s obvious that my question offended you. My apologies. I never ment to.

I have only traveled out of the US a couple of times in my life and was simply asking for some advise.

While i was in the Bahamas and in Mexico, they happily accepted the ';mighty'; US dollar out of convenience to the guest visiting thier Country.

This will be my first time in Thailand and do not no much about converting currency, I will gladly do it, but again, it was JUST a question.

Jesse

The Thai baht ';floats'; on the international currency market, just like the dollar - you%26#39;ll be expected to use the domestic currency - if you want to haggle some may accept Dollars but this is QUITE UNNECESSARY as you can change money or use your ATM card anywhere.

By using dollars you%26#39;ll get a poor rate even if someone decides to accept them.

DON';T change your money at home, change it in Thailand, you%26#39;ll get a much better rate!!!!

you might bring some Travellers(dollars)checks as back-up.

PS - if you look at a map you%26#39;ll see that there is a lot more distance (and countries) between Thailand and US than Mexico or Bahamas

That was a fair question Chuy, sorry you had to get your head bitten off!