Money on the go in Asia

Hi,

My partner and I are going travelling in around 12 weeks time for just under a year. We have a few questions about how to carry money while we are away. Below is our rough idea on how we are planning on doing this.

Please can you take a look at it and let us know if we are on the right lines? This is our first time travelling so we have little knowledge of how this all works.

Thanks in advance!

Lew and Kat.

Money matters
STA Cash Card preloaded with money that exchanges into the appropriate currency as you spend.
USD needed for Myanmar and Laos mainly
Traveller’s cheques in large denominations (this is a maybe as other travellers have suggested they are more hassle than they are worth).

Egypt:
Get currency in EGP before we go, getting £500 each and can get extra while there.

India:
Load money onto the STA cash card and take the hit at the ATMs of £2.15 per withdrawal. Will be withdrawing money in £300 lump sums for the four months we are there.

Myanmar:
Bring £600 each of USD from UK for small denominations to be exchanged into Kyat when needed. The rest of the USD will be used for other expenditures. We need crisp and clean USD notes for them to be accepted so need secure place to store them.
Need at least $70 left for visa and entry fee for Laos.

Thailand:
STA cash card for ATM and general expenses.
Use Thai Baht as main currency.

Laos:
Need $25 for visa each on entry plus border fee. We can get Kip out from ATMs and then exchange into USD. Will lose money on these transactions so best to do in bulk. Keep small denominations of Kip for certain expenses such as taxis etc.
Can use Thai Baht so any leftovers can be spent here.
Kip cannot be used elsewhere so do not carry any out of the country.

Cambodia:
ATMs in most cities. ANZ Royal Bank small fee to change up money but can be done. Can exchange currencies in PP and Siem Reap if needed so if we have USD left over, we can exchange this into Rip.
When we enter Kratie we can spend USD and will receive the change in Rip (is this correct?)

Vietnam:
STA cash card and ATMs for general purchases.
Dong is the official currency although good to have USD as back up.

Bali:
STA cash card and ATMs for general purchases.

Notes:
Cannot get money over the counter using STA cash card can only use ATMs.
For currencies where USD is not the official but is needed, take the hit on the exchange rate and withdraw amount needed in base rate and then exchange into USD at bank/foreign exchange (applies to Laos and Cambodia mainly).

No problem with travelers checks in Thailand. They even get a hair more in exchange than cash. Just get the largest denomination. The fee to cash a travelers check in Thailand is 33 baht. Other countries less easy but not impossible. The fee in Thailand for ATM withdrawals is 150 baht so take out the most you can at one time so you do not have big fees for small withdrawal amounts. You can change leftover Thai baht at the airport or one of the many bank money changers.

I have no problem with Visa and MasterCard debit cards in Thailand. If you go with a debit or credit card remember to notify your card holder where you will be. Otherwise when withdrawals start coming up from foreign countries fraud may be suspected.

The best thing for our trip to SE Asia recently regarding money is getting a Charles Schwab debit card. There is NO fee to get the card and they have no charge to use their card at any ATM world-wide AND they reimburse any charges by the ATM bank. It took a lot of stress out of getting money for us while traveling! When I first heard about it (on Bootsnall actually), I thought it was too good to be true... but it really is such a great deal with no strings attached! The only catch is I think you need to be a US citizen.... Check it out!

We didn't use any tavellers cheques in our fifteen months travelling...and we negotiated with our bank beforehand to waive the withdrawal fees. As previous poster said, make sure you give your bank a rough itinerary. Due to withdrawal limits we had to be quite particular at times with taking money out every day to "save up" for large transport/accommodation or visa fee costs - but if we could do it for eleven, you'll be fine with two!
Sounds like you're pretty onto-it!