Can You Use Revolut In Thailand? (2024)
Wondering whether or not you can use Revolut in Thailand?
You’ve come to the right place as I use Revolut and I have visited Thailand this year.
As a full-time traveller, I use Revolut everywhere I go to get the best exchange rates and avoid conversion fees.
With a 2-month trip to Thailand, lined up, I wondered whether you can use Revolut in the country or not.
And I found it quite difficult to find the answer, which is why, now, after visiting Thailand, I have written a complete guide to using Revolut in Thailand.
Can You Use Revolut In Thailand?
The short answer is yes, you can use Revolut in Thailand. Revolut works throughout the country and can be used for withdrawing cash and card payments anywhere that accepts them.
Revolut has no restrictions in Thailand and can be used freely – but make sure to keep reading for my top tips on how to use Revolut the most effectively in the Land of Smiles.
It’s important to know, however, that in Thailand, cash is king. I remember people telling me this before I went so I already knew, but I didn’t realise how true it was until I visited for myself.
Basically nowhere takes card payments, only really hotels or fancy restaurants, but in other places, the amount is usually too low to justify card payments. Bangkok isn’t expensive and neither is the rest of Thailand (though some islands are slightly pricier).
For example, a bottle of water in 7Eleven costs 6 Thai Baht, which is the equivalent of $0.17 USD. Even if you bought 5 bottles, it’s still not really worth paying by card.
Oh and just so you know, you can’t drink the water in Thailand, so you do need to buy bottled water, unfortunately.
Some 7Elevens accept card payments for anything over 200 Baht, but this isn’t the case in every single one.
As another example, the only temple in Bangkok which accepts card payments is the Grand Palace. Wat Pho, Wat Arun, and the other popular attractions don’t accept cards.
But the good thing about Revolut is that you can also use it to withdraw money in Thailand from ATMs.
You get a much better conversion rate than by using a normal bank account card – I always use Revolut now, no matter where I am in the world, as I travel on a budget and want to save money wherever possible.
If you don’t already have Revolut, I recommend you sign up ASAP. It saves you money every time you use it in a country with a different currency to your own. It’s one of my most important backpacking tips.
When I’m in Thailand, I always have at least 10,000 THB in cash ($280/€257/£221). I think it’s a good amount to have that will last me 7-10 days depending on how much I do (remember I backpack in Thailand) and it means that you aren’t paying the ATM fee too often.
Because yes, there is a fee in Thailand for withdrawing money from ATMs. The fee is 220 Baht and this is the same in most ATMs across the country.
Note that this fee comes from the ATM itself, not Revolut, so Revolut cannot waive this fee or refund it, as the fee isn’t from them.
Using Revolut is still better than any other bank card though because 1) you get a better exchange rate, 2) you don’t get charged for converting a currency and 3) there is no ATM fee with Revolut itself.
Note that there are ATM fees on Revolut for Business Account holders and for any withdrawals after your monthly limit.
If you ask me, since Thailand isn’t expensive, I don’t hate the ATM fee as much as I do in Europe, where it is already expensive.
And if you were wondering if you can send money or transfer money to someone in Thai Baht, yes, you can. It works the same way as any other currency on Revolut.
So to summarise, yes you can use Revolut in Thailand for card payments (when they are accepted but it’s quite rare) and for cash withdrawals (with no fee other than the fee charged by the ATM).
Revolut Thai Baht Exchange Rate
The exchange rate for Thai Baht varies on a day-to-day basis, the same way any currency in the world does.
You can find the up-to-date rates on Revolut’s site, but to give you a rough idea, here are some average conversion rates to THB on Revolut.
| Currency | Thai Baht |
|---|---|
| $1 USD | 35.65฿ |
| €1 EUR | 38.82฿ |
| £1 GBP | 45.30฿ |
Make sure you decline the option to use the exchange rate offered by ATMs as Revolut’s will be better.
Josh’s Top 6 Tips For Using Revolut In Thailand
While you can simply use Revolut in Thailand and you won’t encounter any problems, I have learnt a few tricks from my time in the country and using the card, so I’ve put them together into a list so you can make the most for your money in Thailand. It’ll be marginal differences, but differences nonetheless.
- Don’t withdraw at the weekend: One of the biggest downsides to Revolut in my opinion is the fact that you get charged a currency exchange fee at weekends. So to avoid these Revolut charges, withdraw your money during the week (or exchange currency on Revolut).
- Withdraw money in a bank: This trick doesn’t always work, but it does sometimes. If you withdraw money from a Thai bank or post office in Thailand rather than an ATM, you can sometimes get money without paying a fee. As I said, sometimes there is still a fee but if this is the case, it will be no more than 220 THB anyway.
- Use Revolut for transport: One occasion when you can use Revolut in Thailand is for transport. Grab (Thailand equivalent of Uber) accepts card payments on the app and you can add your Revolut card. It’s easier to pay for journeys by card than cash as from my experience, the drivers usually have no change or at least they claim not to anyway.
- Decline the ATM conversion rate: One of my best backpacking hacks is to decline the conversion rate the ATM will offer you. It will be awful, and when you decline, it will use Revolut’s conversion rates instead, which will be much better.
- Keep some Baht in your account: While you can have any currency in your Revolut account and it will be transferred into Baht when you spend it, I find it’s best to have some stored in Baht anyway. This is a cheeky way to withdraw money on a weekend without being charged a fee as you already have it converted.
- Bring your actual Revolut card: On the rare occasion that somewhere accepts card payments, you usually can’t pay with contactless, so you need the actual card to insert. Don’t rely on Apple/Google Pay in Thailand as contactless isn’t as popular as it is in the US and Europe. And of course, you need it to withdraw cash too.
FAQs
Below are some common questions about using Revolut in Thailand along with my answers to each question.
Revolut has no fees for withdrawing cash in Thailand. The only fees for withdrawing cash in Thailand come from the ATMs themself, which is usually 220 THB. Note that you will be charged a fee by Revolut if you exceed your monthly allowance, or you have a business account.
The best card to use in Thailand is a Revolut card, because it offers better exchange rates and there are no foreign currency conversion fees, which most main banks do charge. Unfortunately you still get charged 220 THB by ATMs, but there is no card which waives the fee, so Revolut is the best option.
Yes, you can use Revolut in Thailand. It works the same way as in any other countries, except that most of Thailand uses cash instead of cards, so you need to use your Revolut card to withdraw cash from machines rather than paying directly with Revolut.
You can use Revolut in Thailand for free when making payments by card, but Thailand is a very cash-based country. Revolut charges no fees to withdraw money from ATMs, but the ATMs in Thailand charge 220฿ for a withdrawal. Unfortunately there is no way to avoid this fee in Thailand.
Monzo and Revolut offer very similar perks in Thailand such as no currency conversion fees and good exchange rates. Unfortunately both cards still get hit by the 220THB ATM fee, so there are few differences between the two. Both work well in Thailand.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it, a complete guide to using Revolut in Thailand.
Revolut is super easy to use, it’s convenient, efficient and best of all, it saves you money.
It’s a no-brainer in my opinion, and I use it everywhere I go, Thailand included.
So now that you know you need Revolut on your phone, I recommend finding out which other apps for travelling Thailand that I suggest having downloaded.
Read more about Thailand:
