Thailand's last chance to ruin your life

If you have managed to secure a refund, odds are you are now holding a big wad of cash. Besides the inherent risk of carrying that kind of cash around, you have to figure out how to get it out of the country, legally.

The first step should be at the Tourist Police. You must demand a form that explains, in Thai, where the money came from. The form explains why you have this much cash with you, and should have your name and the amount of money you have received as a refund. MAKE SURE YOUR NAME AND CURRENCY AMOUNT ARE WRITTEN ON THE FORM. We have had one case where an officer simply gave an example copy, leading to confusion at the bank.

If you are now going to continue on your travels, you might as well convert them to traveller's cheques. This allows you to carry on with your journey. While you can cash traveller's cheques at many locations along Khao San Road, banks are the only ones who will issue traveller's cheques, and they close around 3:30pm usually.

If you are going home, the easiest way to avoid having a wad of cash in your suitcase is to wire the money home. If you are lucky, your home bank has an office or affiliate in Bangkok, in which case you will be charged a one time fee of 400 baht to wire the money. Best to wire it directly to your bank account. Most banks are on Silom Road, but you can check your home bank's website to see if they have offices in Bangkok.

More likely, your bank isn't here, in which case you'll need Western Union or some other transfer service. We are told that they also charge 400 baht to send, but your home bank will levy a charge of about $USD20 to receive and convert. In both cases, you may lose out on the exchange rate.

Should you choose to leave the country with the money, the following limits are in place as of April 2002:
- travellers can not take out more than $USD10,000 (about 420,000baht) in foreign currencies.
- Under new rules governing the baht, travellers are limited to 500,000baht if they travel to neighbouring countries, and only 50,000baht if they leave S.E. Asia.

If you have paid by a credit card, it might not be a bad idea to cancel your card. The number is in the hands of criminal organizations, so there is no telling what they will do once you've paid it off.

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