Thailand forum

Denominations query

leeturnbull-
82

longtail driver
Posts: 7

Hey guys,
My girlfriend and I will be travelling around all of SE Asiafor 4-6 months with a budget of $6,000 dollars between us. We were wonderingwhat the best way would be to split up our money between cash (US and local), abank card, and traveler’s checks. How much and what denominations should we putinto traveler’s checks? Any advice and/or suggestions would be helpful.

#1 Posted: 12/1/2012 - 16:51
guava_girl

tuk tuk driver
Posts: 237

You will find that $6,000 between two for 4-6 months many not go to far unless you visit less travelled areas where accomodations and food will be cheaper.

I always travel with just my bank card. But if you do this be sure to have a back up as not all places will have an ATM.

#2 Posted: 12/1/2012 - 19:58
n8sand

backpacker
Posts: 13
Located in:
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I'd say 4 month is do-able on that budget, but 6 might be a stretch. But, hey!, some travelers can get by with surprisingly little.

I've never used traveler's checks before, and don't know much about them. Like guava_girl, I've usually rely solely on my bank card and a medium wad of cash--maybe around 5000B (in Thailand) at a time--throughout most trips. And, beyond using dollars at embassies/borders for visas, I've never really needed dollar currency.

One mistake I made in the past was this: I neglected to notify my bank that I would be traveling to a particular country, and when I got there and tried to use an ATM, my account was frozen. I had to sit tight for a day or two, waiting for the time difference, and then contact customer service via a sketchy skype connection at a computer lab. In other words, if you are going to depend on your bank card, make sure to tell your bank every country that you intend to visit.

#3 Posted: 12/1/2012 - 22:37