SeaWolf
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I'm in Thailand at the moment and was in coughet now in Chiang Mai. You can almost get away without cash here, but not quite. When I went out to the Phi Phi Islands from coughet some of the small shops there only took cash. In Chiang Mai some of the temples charge a small entry fee for tourists (20-50 baht) and, so far, they've all required cash or the Thai bank's QR code payment system. The little coffee place that gave me a respite from the ferocious Chiang Mai heat today also only accepted cash.
All of the ATM's around have large stickers on the sides of them declaring "Get Thai Baht Here!" with the various credit card logos at the bottom, but charge you a whopper fee for it. Unless you're drawing a very large amount of cash you're better off with the money changers. The one I used charged a spread of about 1% compared to the Mastercard exchange rate, so for changing AU$150 that was a far better deal than the ATM.
All of the ATM's around have large stickers on the sides of them declaring "Get Thai Baht Here!" with the various credit card logos at the bottom, but charge you a whopper fee for it. Unless you're drawing a very large amount of cash you're better off with the money changers. The one I used charged a spread of about 1% compared to the Mastercard exchange rate, so for changing AU$150 that was a far better deal than the ATM.
