The short answer

If you're exchanging pounds in Thailand, take clean Bank of England £50 notes and your passport to a licensed specialist exchange counter. In Bangkok, the best are clustered around Ratchadamri Road near Chit Lom BTS and on Sukhumvit near Nana. Outside Bangkok, use an established licensed changer and compare two or three boards before you hand over your money.

Exchange just enough at the airport to get into town, and never change money at a hotel reception desk unless you have no other choice.

And ask yourself whether you need to exchange cash at all. With a fee-free UK card you can withdraw baht at Thai ATMs for the ฿220 machine fee, or convert pounds in an app at close to the mid-market rate — with nothing to carry through the airport.

Why where you exchange matters so much

Exchange counters in Thailand don't usually charge a commission. They make their money on the difference between the real (mid-market) rate and the rate they pay you. That difference — the margin — is what varies so widely.

On 12 October 2026, with the mid-market rate at about ฿44.38, Grand SuperRich in Bangkok was buying £50 notes at ฿44.25. That's a margin of about 0.3% — roughly £1.50 on £500. An airport arrivals-hall booth or hotel taking 4% to 5% would cost £20 to £25 on the same £500.

The reason is volume and competition. The big Bangkok counters exchange enormous amounts of foreign currency every day, mostly in large notes, so they can work on very thin margins. A hotel exchanges a few hundred pounds a week, has no competitor in the lobby, and knows guests rarely shop around.

There's also a legal element. Licensed money changers in Thailand must display their daily buying and selling rates conspicuously, follow the Bank of Thailand's published rates as a reference, and give you a receipt for every transaction. A board with clear rates and a licence number on the wall is a good sign; a kiosk with no board, or a person on the street offering "good rate", is not.

The best places to exchange pounds in Bangkok

Bangkok's best rates are concentrated in a small area between Chit Lom and Pratunam, with a second cluster on Sukhumvit. These are the names you'll hear most often from expats.

SuperRich — two companies, two colours

"SuperRich" is actually two separate, competing businesses with similar names. SuperRich Thailand uses a green logo and has its headquarters at 45 Soi Ratchadamri 1, a short walk from Chit Lom BTS. SuperRich 1965 uses an orange logo, has its main office on the same stretch of Ratchadamri Road near Pratunam, and runs more than 30 branches around Bangkok. Both are licensed and both offer excellent rates; on major currencies including sterling the difference between them is usually tiny.

On 12 October 2026, SuperRich Thailand's headquarters was buying £50 notes at ฿44.20 and smaller notes (£20 to £5) at ฿44.15.

Grand SuperRich

A third Ratchadamri Road name, at 21–25 Soi Ratchadamri 1, right beside the green SuperRich. It's often marginally ahead on sterling: on 12 October 2026 it was buying £50 notes at ฿44.25 and £20–£5 notes at ฿44.20 — and it was one of the few to publish a separate rate for Scottish notes (more on those below).

Vasu Exchange

The best-known counter on Sukhumvit, on Soi 7/1 next to Nana BTS (Exit 1). Expats in the Sukhumvit area often use it rather than travelling to Ratchadamri; rates are very close to the SuperRich group. It's closed on Sundays, and expect to show your original passport.

Others worth knowing

• Siam Exchange — on Phayathai Road near MBK and Siam BTS, trading since 1972.
• K79 — in the Siam and MBK area.
• Twelve Victory and X-One — independent counters with competitive rates, in Pratunam and on Silom.
• Branches in malls and at BTS stations — SuperRich and others have branches at Siam Paragon, Silom Complex, the Exchange Tower on Asok and elsewhere. Handy, but rates are often a little lower than at head offices.

Most of these counters open from about 9am to 6pm, with shorter hours or closures at weekends, and many close on major holidays such as Songkran. Head offices can have queues at busy times: take a number and have your passport ready.

If you're only exchanging a couple of hundred pounds, a special trip across Bangkok may not be worth it — the difference between a head office and a decent mall branch might be a few hundred baht. For £1,000 or more, it usually is.

Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai and the islands

Outside Bangkok, rates are generally a little less sharp, and the best counter in town isn't always the one nearest your hotel. The rule is the same everywhere: use a licensed changer with a clear rate board, check the mid-market rate, and compare a couple of boards before you exchange a large sum.

Pattaya

Long-term residents and regular visitors tend to recommend T.T. Currency Exchange, whose main counter is on Second Road and which is widely regarded as offering some of the best rates in the city. Several other independent licensed changers on Second Road compete with it. Bank booths along Beach Road and Walking Street are convenient but usually pay less.

Phuket

In Patong and Phuket Town, established licensed changers such as Value Plus are generally better than the kiosks and bank booths close to the beach. Rates can vary noticeably between neighbouring booths on Patong's main streets, so it pays to compare. On smaller beaches and at resorts, choice is limited — bring baht with you or use an ATM.

Chiang Mai

Expats in Chiang Mai often use Mr Pierre on Tha Phae Road near the Old City and SK Exchange on Charoen Prathet Road — both typically open Monday to Saturday and closed on Sundays. G Exchange and Nakhonping Exchange on Loi Kroh Road stay open into the evening and are a useful backup.

Islands and rural areas

On Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Lanta and smaller islands, and in rural Thailand, specialist counters are scarce and bank booths are often the only option. Rates are poorer and some smaller places don't take sterling at all. Exchange what you need in Bangkok or a major town first, or rely on a fee-free card at ATMs.

Exchanging pounds at a Thai bank

Every major Thai bank — Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank (KBank), Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Krungsri and Krungthai — exchanges sterling, at branches and at the small exchange booths you'll see in tourist areas, malls and airports.

Banks typically pay a little less than the best specialist counters. Comparisons published in October 2026 put the margin at about 0.9% to 1% at Bangkok Bank, KBank and SCB for major currencies — roughly £5 on £500 — and booths in tourist areas and airports often take more.

Banks do have advantages:

• They're everywhere, including towns with no specialist changer.
• They're often more relaxed about note condition, and may accept slightly worn or marked notes that a specialist counter would refuse.
• Mall branches open seven days a week and into the evening.
• You get a bank receipt, which can be useful as a record if you're exchanging larger sums.

You'll need your passport. If you have a Thai bank account, remember that money transferred in from the UK is converted at the bank's transfer (TT) rate, which is usually better than its rate for cash — explained in our guide to GBP to THB exchange rates.

Every option for getting baht, compared

What each option typically costs compared with the mid-market rate, and what £500 would get you on 12 October 2026 (mid-market about ฿44.38). Scroll sideways on a phone.

Specialist rate: Grand SuperRich, £50 notes, 12 October 2026. Wise fee from 0.43%. ATM row: ฿22,190 minus ฿220. Bank, booth, airport and hotel margins are typical published ranges; check the board on the day.

Places and notes to avoid

• Hotel reception desks. Convenient at midnight, but typically 4% to 6% below mid-market.
• Arrivals-hall bank booths at the airport. Exchange only what you need for the journey into town. At Suvarnabhumi, the counters on the basement (B) floor near the Airport Rail Link are better — our airport guide covers them in detail.
• Street touts and unmarked kiosks. Use only licensed changers with a rate board and a licence number displayed. Unlicensed exchange is illegal and leaves you with no comeback if you're short-changed.
• "No commission" boards with poor rates. No commission doesn't mean no cost — the margin is in the rate.
• Credit card cash advances at a bank counter. Usually charged as a cash advance by your card issuer, with interest from day one.

Scottish and Northern Irish notes

Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes are legal currency in the UK, but in Thailand they're a problem. Many counters won't take them at all; those that do pay noticeably less. On 12 October 2026, Grand SuperRich was buying Scottish notes at ฿42.50 against ฿44.25 for Bank of England £50s — about 4% less, or roughly £20 on every £500. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, swap them for Bank of England notes before you fly, or leave them at home and use a card.

Old, damaged and small notes

Bank of England paper £20 and £50 notes stopped being legal tender on 30 September 2022, and Thai counters won't buy them; you can still exchange them with the Bank of England. Specialist counters are strict about condition: notes that are torn, written on, stained or heavily creased may be refused or bought at a discount. Smaller notes get slightly lower rates too — on 12 October 2026, SuperRich Thailand paid ฿44.15 for £5 to £20 notes against ฿44.20 for £50s.

What to bring: passport, notes and patience

Your passport. Licensed money changers have to record your details on the receipt for every transaction, including your passport number, and Bank of Thailand rules require them to see identification for larger exchanges. In practice, almost every licensed counter and bank asks for your passport whatever the amount, and many insist on the original rather than a photo or copy. No passport usually means no exchange.

The right notes. Current Bank of England polymer notes, in good condition, ideally £50s.

A phone with a currency app. To check the mid-market rate at the board and to check the amount you're given.

Making sure you get what you're owed

• Look for the licence. Licensed changers display their Ministry of Finance permit and a sign showing "Authorized Money Changer" and a licence number.
• Read the right column. "We buy" (or "Buying") is what you get for your pounds; check the row for your note size.
• Do the sum first. Multiply your pounds by the buying rate before you hand over your money.
• Count it at the counter. Count your baht before you leave the window, in view of the cashier and the camera.
• Keep the receipt. It shows the rate, the amount and your passport number — useful if anything is wrong, and needed if you want to change baht back.

For larger sums, consider splitting the exchange over two visits so you're not carrying it all at once, and go straight back to your hotel safe afterwards. Check how much cash your travel insurance covers — many policies have a limit of a few hundred pounds.

Changing baht back into pounds

At the end of your trip, the same counters will sell you pounds for your leftover baht — at their "We sell" rate, which is higher than the buying rate. At the best Bangkok counters the gap is small (on 12 October 2026, ฿44.35 to ฿44.40 per pound against a buying rate of about ฿44.20 to ฿44.25); elsewhere it can be much wider.

Bank of Thailand rules mean a money changer selling you foreign currency must take a copy of your passport or evidence that you're travelling abroad, so bring your passport. Coins can't be exchanged anywhere, so spend them first.

A few things to bear in mind:

• Change back in town, not at the airport, where rates are worse.
• You can take up to ฿50,000 out of Thailand without declaring it (up to ฿500,000 if you're travelling to a neighbouring country).
• If you'll be back within a year, it's often simplest to keep a few thousand baht at home for your next arrival.
• Sterling bureaux in the UK buy baht back at poor rates, so don't bring large amounts home.

If you have a multicurrency account, you can simply keep your baht balance for next time rather than converting it back.

Living in Thailand? Exchange counters aren't a money plan

Many British expats arrive with savings in sterling and carry notes in on every trip home. It works for spending money, but it's not a sound way to move significant sums — and it doesn't help if you need proof of where your money came from.

Buying a condominium in your own name, for example, generally requires the money to arrive in Thailand from abroad in foreign currency by bank transfer, with documentation from the receiving bank. Cash exchanged at a counter doesn't create that paper trail. Retirement visa deposits, pension income and savings all work better when they're planned rather than carried.

The bigger questions are how much to keep in pounds and how much in baht, when to move it, how to protect your income if the pound falls, and how your pension and investments are set up now that you live abroad. That's where planning pays for itself many times over.

Don't want to carry cash? The best alternatives

If you'd rather not carry a stack of notes through two airports, these get you close to the real rate with nothing to exchange.

Your exchange checklist

• Bank of England polymer notes — ideally £50s, clean and flat.
• No Scottish, Northern Irish or old paper notes.
• Your original passport.
• A currency app to check the mid-market rate at the board.
• A licensed specialist counter — not a hotel, street kiosk or arrivals-hall booth.
• Do the sum, count the baht, keep the receipt.
• A fee-free card as backup for when counters are closed.
• Insurance cash cover checked before you carry a large amount.