ATMs are everywhere in Bangkok. Your ATM, or credit card, should work in most, if not all, of them. There is, of course, a fee for transactions with banks outside of Thailand.

If you have a Thai bank account, you can use the ATM card they issue in any bank’s ATM machine, and there is no charge. That’s right - NO CHARGE!

Don’t worry - The ATMs have an English language option that displays right after you enter your pin number. Once you change it to English, navigation is simple and intuitive.

Thai ATM cards are also debit cards, or at least the one I have is. It may depend on who you bank with as to how widely accepted their card is for debits. I use KBank, one of the larger banks in Thailand, and it seems to be accepted in most places that take debit cards.

On the subject of banks…

If you plan to live in Thailand, you will want to get a Thai bank account. This is easier said than done. An American friend of mine went to five banks before he could find one that would give him an account. I went with him to get my account at the bank he uses. His going with me, and the fact that he banked with them for five years, did help.

The first thing they asked for was my work visa. I told them I was retiring in Thailand, and that seemed to be a satisfactory answer. They will want a copy of your passport, so make sure to bring it with you. Also, don’t try to get an account if your address is a hotel. I used my friend’s address, and then changed it once I had my own apartment.

I have had no problems wire transferring money from a US bank account to my Thai bank. It took 24 hours for the money to get deposited.

ATM cards are issued at the bank, so there’s no waiting for it to arrive via mail. If you loose your card they will replace it, for a fee. I can’t remember exactly, but I think my bank charges 1000 Baht, or approximately $27.

Credit Card TIP…

Contact your credit card companies before leaving, and let them know you may be making transactions in Thailand. Otherwise your cards might get suspended for suspected fraud.

If you plan to live here, make sure they create a permanent record of that. Otherwise they will assume you are vacationing and make a temporary annotation. Also tell them to make note that you will be using your cards in other Asian countries, because you probably will. I used one of mine in Laos, while on a visa run, to pay the hotel bill.

Also make sure to write down the out of country customer service number, printed on your cards. If your cards are lost or stolen, you will have one hell of a time figuring out how to contact customer service.