Russian tourists have three real ways to bring money to Thailand with bank cards issued in Russia that do not work abroad: cash in rubles, cash in foreign currency and non-cash using a card connected to the Chinese payment system. A Russian woman permanently residing in the kingdom spoke about the pros and cons of each of them on the Yandex.Zen channel.
The search for new opportunities to import money abroad from Russia became relevant after the cards of Russian banks were disconnected from Visa and mastercard. However, a few months after the start of the special operation in Ukraine, only some areas were reorganized under the sanctions directed by the West against ordinary Russians. Turkey and a number of other destinations accept the card of the Russian payment system MIR.
In this sense, Thailand remained “marking” in one place and did not solve the problem of Russian tourists with payments. “As you remember, Visa and Mastercard cards do not work. Mir cards are not accepted. Western Union cannot be sent from Russia. Apple Pay is not available in Thailand. What else happens? PayPal, Wise – everything is impossible, ”the Russian woman noted and named three available ways to withdraw money to Thailand from Russia.
The first way is cash in rubles. “The easiest, but the most disadvantageous. In Pattaya, in private exchangers, the exchange rate is 0.33 (for 1’000₽ they give 330 baht). In official banks, the exchange rate is 0.25,” the author warned.
The second way is cash in foreign currency. Dollars, euros and yuan will do.
The third way is cashless. Issue a card of the Chinese payment system Union Pay. “True, not all banks, not everywhere you can pay, and not everywhere you can withdraw cash. If we get lucky. Union Pay from Rosselkhozbank and Pochtabank definitely works.
Tourists who have a Thai bank card in their hands should not worry. They will have the easiest time in Thailand. However, there are not many such Russians. “You can transfer money to a Thai card from the Russian Federation (Tinkoff Bank) Swift transfer. You can withdraw “crypto” to a Thai card (if you don’t know how, then through an intermediary). You can also get money on a Thai card from any bank in the Russian Federation through exchange sites,” the Russian woman said.
As for online payment for Thai hotels, purchases of goods or services, ordinary tourists from Russia still cannot do this. Compatriots who settled in Thailand and have local bank cards come to the aid of tourists. “Over the past month, I helped pay for visas to the USA, Singapore, withdrew money to the guys stuck here (yes, due to flight cancellations, there are still those who are stuck), paid for the annual maintenance of condos and hotel reservations, even bought someone a lottery tickets,” the author concluded.
For those who value a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “The psychologist named the reason why men do not show their emotions and why it is dangerous.”
➔ Do you watch news on your smartphone? Subscribe to tourism news from Turprom in Google News or Google Discover: these are fresh travel ideas, travel news and collections on sales of tours and air tickets! Or subscribe to the travel news channel at YANDEX.ZEN or at PULSE.MAIL.RU. We also recommend subscribing to our News Channel in Telegram: https://t.me/tourprom