Bangkok Travel Money Guide

Bangkok runs on a split economy: glossy malls and hotels take cards happily, while the best of the city — street food, markets, tuk-tuks and taxis — wants baht in hand. Budget a daily float of cash and you'll glide between both.

How much cash to bring to Bangkok

A rough daily budget for a comfortable mid-range trip:

• Food — ฿300–800/day (street meals are ฿50–100; a nice restaurant climbs fast)
• Local transport — ฿150–400/day on the BTS, MRT and the odd Grab
• Attractions & nightlife — ฿300–900/day (temples, rooftop bars, markets)

Paying your way around Bangkok

• Mind the ฿220 ATM fee — Thai ATMs charge a flat ฿220 per foreign-card withdrawal on top of your bank's fee. Withdraw larger amounts less often rather than topping up daily.
• BTS & MRT — buy a stored-value Rabbit card (BTS) or use tokens; both are cheap and skip Bangkok's traffic.
• Taxis and Grab — insist on the meter in taxis, or use Grab to avoid haggling. Both are usually cash (small notes help).
• Cards work in the big places — malls, hotels and chain restaurants; street stalls and markets don't.

Neighbourhood cash notes

• Sukhumvit — malls (Terminal 21, EmQuartier) take cards; the street food and bars below the BTS are cash.
• Yaowarat (Chinatown) — a cash-only feast of street stalls; bring small notes.
• Chatuchak Weekend Market — thousands of cash-only stalls; ATMs on site charge the ฿220 fee.
• Old Town & Khao San — temples charge small cash entry fees; guesthouses and street vendors are cash.

One Bangkok habit

• Keep a stash of ฿20 and ฿100 notes — for songthaews, motorbike taxis, market stalls and temple donations. And never let a card machine charge you in ringgit instead of baht — always choose THB.