I just went to an ATM this morning and withdrew 20k baht using my US Wells Fargo card.

I read that you should never accept the local currency exchange. In face the ATM said it was a 5.5% surcharge, for a total USD withdrawal of $628.

So I took the advice and chose the “Don’t accept currency exchange” option. Then when I checked my bank balance, the withdrawal was $598. So I saved $30 USD, which was 5% of the total. I guess Wells Fargo only charged me 0.5% compared to the 5.5% that the ATM wanted to charge me.

Hope this tip saves you guys some money! I accept karma as tips

I guess I didn't read the prompt on one of my withdrawals and got the 5% or whatever the surcharge was LOL

I did notice that when i made smaller withdrawals only 5000 baht sometimes the exchange rate would be better than going to those booths with your with 100 bills. Not sure if the reason was the smaller withdrawal because it was a different ATM bank too

I was trying to see if ATM would be better than those booths since i have Schwab and they cover the 220 fee that was pretty consistent and i think i tried 3 diff bank ATM. A few times i got better rates at ATM a few times worse so i'll still bring cash still and just save ATM for if i run out.

I did notice that using credit card would give the best rate. It pretty much gave exact rate during transaction according to what i google shows at the time. Like when i went bowling, movies or a more expensive meal I tested my CC. Tried my Cap1, Sapphire, and Costco every time better exchange than you'd get at the booth. Those cards had no foreign trans fee too. Best rate at booth I'd get about 16-20 baht charge per 100 USD. So you'd save like only a dollar per 100 USD spent. So tiny saving if any one else is a penny pincher like me haha.

get the schwab card its free atm worldwide .............