Travler's checks, cash, debit or credit?

[divemaster86]

My husband and I will be all over Thailand in a couple weeks for a month of diving and other tourism (Khao Lak, Phuket, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai). I am hoping to get some advice on how to bring money, particularly in Khao Lak.

As someone else mentioned in a different thread, when I booked my diving in Khao Lak, I found that a direct bank transfer through Paypal was required. Is it typical for resorts and dive operations to not accept credit cards?

My options for cash are any combination of the following:
(1) USD to be exchanged in Thailand
(2) Traveler's checks (American Express or Visa)
(3) Credit Cards (I have a Citi Mastercard and Bank of America Visa)
(4) Debit card (chase bank account)

I am VERY hesitant to bring a debit card anywhere let alone all the way to Thailand. A few years back we had a debit card number stolen and lost several $K we could never recover.

Any advice you could give would be great! Also, who has the best exchange rates out there?

Thanks

 

[beaner]

The info you have received is correct if you are staying at smaller hotels, i.e. guesthouses, and not larger chains. Most (small) hotels and (small) dive operators take cash only and if they take credit cards they will charge 3-5% surcharge.
I can't speak to traveler's cheques as I never use them.
Exchanging USD to Baht will cost you service fees that I think are just a waste of money. And it's a headache to have to do it.
Sounds like you had some bad luck with your debit card in the past, but honestly, using it here is the easiest way to access the CASH that most service providers (hotels, restaurants, tour operators, etc.) will accept, in my opinion.
My advice is to just use your debit card - generally you get the best rate from your home bank and the charges on both sides amount to about $1-1.50 per transaction. When I first arrived in Thailand (on vacation; I now live here) I would take out 10,000baht from the bank machine at a time (I think the daily max is 20,000b but it may depend on the machine you are at and/or your home bank's policy). I wouldn't want to carry much more than that anyway (it's equal to about 350USD).
Hope this helps.

 

[mase]

ATM's everywhere.

 

[stevenl]

ATM's everywhere, but: all professional diving centers will accept credit cards. Accepting payments from overseas can be difficult sometimes, but on the spot credit cards are accepted everywhere (mainly Visa and Mastercard).

 

[lord khram]

I have found in Thailand cash is king.
Many times I have known people have to pay surcharges for credit/debit card transactions, and many of the smaller businesses are not geared up to take card payments.
Also from what I have been told by a number of others that the banking system would not appear to be as efficient or secure as what we are used to in the west. I know numerous people that have encountered problems/fraud on their cads after using them in ATM's or for making payments within Thailand.