There have been a number of posts in the Chat section in the past about where to get good exchange rates for your foreign currency in Thailand. Most frequent travelers simply use the bank kiosks at the airport upon arrival, or any of the various bank kiosks or exchange counters in banks throughout the city when in Bangkok. From my observations, the exchange rates between banks doesn't vary much. Typically, the margin between the buy and sell prices for U.S. currency pertaining to $50 and $100 bills is between 0.8 and 1.0 baht. That means if the "mid-market exchange rate" (the rate you typically get if you use a website like http://www.xe.com to find out the current exchange rate) is 40.0 baht to the dollar, you can sell your dollars and buy bahts at the rate of 39.6 baht per dollar, or sell your bahts back at the rate of 40.4 baht per dollar. The margin is the profit the money changers make. If you are buying or selling smaller denomination bills (like 1's, 5's, 10's or 20's), the margin is wider and the exchange agent makes a bigger profit (and you get less baht for your buck). For this reason, it makes sense to try to only trade larger bills.

Having said this, I recently found an exchange through a Thai friend of mine that gives a much better exchange rate, i.e. smaller margin, typically 0.2 to 0.25 baht per dollar. Recently, when the mid-market rate was 39.9 baht per dollar, they were buying dollars at 39.80 baht, and selling them at 40.05 baht to the dollar. The exchange is:

Super Rich
45-45/1 Rajdamri Road.
Patumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel: (02) 254-4444
(02) 253-5559
(02) 655-0155

When I was there the two times I have used them, the place was filled with Thais, not a farang in sight. It does not appear to be a black market sight, but a legitimate exchange, in fact a number of police were standing around on the street.

They are open Monday through Saturday. I am not certain of the hours (I was told at one point, but forget), but I believe they open around 10 AM, and close around 6 PM. You go inside and show them your ID (passport) which they photocopy, and you queue in line to give them your money (dollars). At that time, you are given a slip with the amount of currency you will be getting back (baht). Your number is called and you get your money. There appears to be a number of security people around and I felt quite safe despite being the only farang there, although I was with my Thai friend.

If you the location is not convenient to where you are, it is probably not worth making a trip there to change smaller quantities of currency, but if you are making a large exchange, it can be to your advantage. They also do not have the per person limit (typically $1000 per day) that most banks have. At least I never was limited and one of my exchanges was for $2000. They do not, however, accept bills smaller than $50. Margins for Euros were similar, if that is your home currency. The only other currency I can speak to is Chinese RMB, which also showed a very good exchange rate. (The rate for RMB's at the banks seem to have a very high margin, perhaps because it's not considered a "hard currency").

The location is on Rajdamri, about a 10 minute walk north of the Hyatt Erawan hotel (nearest Skytrain station is probably Chitlom). The exchange is actually off of Rajdamri, despite the address, by about 50 yards, so the best thing to do the first time is probably have a taxi take you to help you find it.

Here is a picture of the card for the exchange that you can give to the taxi driver, since it's in English and Thai:



By the way, the WORST place to exchange your money is in the states at one of those Thomas Cook kiosks common in many airports. In the airport I leave from, the margin is about 10 baht! Save your money for arrival in Thailand and at least use the airport exchange kiosks. They are open nearly 24 hours (I've seen them open as early as 5 am, and as late as 3 am).

Card photo integrated above.