The short answer

Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Krungsri, Krungthai and the Government Savings Bank all charge foreign cards ฿220 a withdrawal. AEON is the main exception at a widely reported ฿150. Some independent machines at airports charge more.

Because the fee is flat, it's cheapest as a percentage when you withdraw the most the machine and your UK card allow: ฿220 is 1.1% of ฿20,000, but 4.4% of ฿5,000. Use a UK card that adds no fee of its own, take out larger amounts less often, and always decline the machine's offer to convert to pounds.

Thai ATM networks at a glance

Fees and typical maximum withdrawals for a UK card in 2026. Individual machines vary and banks change their limits, so the screen always has the final word. Scroll sideways on a phone.

Compiled 12 October 2026 from ThailandKnowledge (June 2026), Thailand Starter Kit (September 2026) and Thai-AEC (2026); fees and limits are reported by travellers and vary by machine. One 2026 report lists GSB at ฿150; other sources, including our own checks, show ฿220. "Fee at the max" is the Thai fee as a percentage of the largest typical withdrawal.

How to spot each bank's ATMs

Thai bank ATMs are colour-coded by bank, which makes it easy to find a particular network on a busy street or in a mall. These are the colours you'll see:

AEON machines carry AEON's own branding and are usually inside shopping centres and large supermarkets rather than on the street. TTB machines are blue with an orange accent. In tourist areas you'll also see independent machines from smaller operators; check the fee on screen before you continue.

Wherever you are, the safest machines are inside or attached to a bank branch, or in a busy shopping centre. They're less likely to have been tampered with, and if the machine keeps your card, the branch can get it back. Our guide to ATM safety and card fraud in Thailand covers what to look for.

What each size of withdrawal costs

The Thai ATM fee as a share of your cash, at ฿220 and at AEON's ฿150. UK card fees, if any, come on top.

At ฿44.38 = £1 (Wise, 12 October 2026). ฿220 = £4.96; ฿150 = £3.38.

Why withdrawal size matters more than the machine

The difference between ฿220 and ฿150 is about £1.58 a withdrawal. The difference between withdrawing ฿5,000 at a time and ฿20,000 at a time is three extra fees — about £15 — on every ฿20,000 you need. If you can only change one habit, take out more at once.

What stops most travellers doing that is their UK card's daily limit, not the Thai machine. A limit of £300 a day — common on standard accounts and on Starling and Kroo — works out at about ฿13,300, so a ฿20,000 withdrawal is refused. A £500 limit, as on Chase, covers ฿20,000 with room to spare. To take ฿30,000 in one go at a Krungsri or Bangkok Bank machine, you'd need a limit of roughly £680 or more.

Some banks let you raise the daily limit in the app for a few days. Check before you fly — it's much easier to sort from home than from a Thai ATM screen.

The total cost of ฿20,000 on every kind of UK card

One ฿20,000 withdrawal (£450.65), including your UK card's fees and the Thai ATM fee. This is where the UK card and the Thai machine come together.

UK bank fees as published, checked 12 October 2026 (see our UK card foreign-fee comparison). HSBC cash fee 2% (max £5) and TSB cash fee 1.5% (max £4.50) both hit their maximum on ฿20,000. Some UK cards have fee-free monthly allowances (Monzo, Revolut, Wise) — see our debit card comparison.

Your card matters more than the ATM

The matrix makes one thing very clear: the choice of UK card swamps the choice of Thai machine. Moving from a ฿220 machine to AEON saves £1.58 on ฿20,000. Moving from a standard Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC or TSB card to a fee-free one saves £13 to £18 on the same withdrawal.

Over a fortnight with ฿40,000 of cash, a standard TSB card costs about £46 in fees; a fee-free card at a ฿220 machine costs about £10. Over a three-month winter, the difference runs into hundreds of pounds. Our UK card foreign-fee comparison lists what every major UK bank charges, and our debit card comparison sets out the fee-free alternatives side by side.

ATMs at Thai airports

You'll find bank ATMs in the arrivals halls at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai and the other main airports. Bank-branded machines charge the usual ฿220 — the airport doesn't add anything — but some independent machines charge more, with fees of up to ฿250 reported. Read the fee on screen before you confirm.

Airports are also where the conversion offer is most aggressive. The machine will often suggest charging you in pounds "for your convenience". Always decline: accepting typically costs 6% to 9% more than letting your own card convert. See our guide to dynamic currency conversion at Thai ATMs for the exact screens.

If you only need enough for a taxi and your first meal, a single small withdrawal at the airport is fine. Our guide to exchanging money at Bangkok airports compares ATMs with the exchange counters — and the Airport Rail Link and public taxis are an easy way into the city.

Finding an AEON ATM

AEON's lower fee makes its machines worth seeking out for regular withdrawals, but there are far fewer of them than the big banks' ATMs, and they're rarely on the street. Look for them:

• In shopping centres, often near the supermarket entrance or the money-exchange counters.
• In large supermarkets — Big C, Lotus's, Makro and MaxValu stores.
• Using the maps app on your phone: search "AEON ATM" near you.

AEON machines typically allow up to ฿20,000 per withdrawal. With a UK card limit of £500 a day, that's the cheapest way to get ฿20,000 in Thailand. If AEON isn't convenient, a ฿220 machine that lets you withdraw ฿30,000 — usually Krungsri or Bangkok Bank — works out almost as cheaply per baht, if your card's daily limit allows it.

Ways to pay less than ฿220

No UK card avoids the Thai ATM fee, but there are ways to need fewer withdrawals:

Booking ahead is the easiest win for most visitors: every hotel night, island transfer or day trip paid by card before you travel is cash you don't have to withdraw in Thailand.

See our guide to where to exchange pounds in Thailand for the best counters.

Living in Thailand: when the fee stops making sense

For a holiday, ฿220 a withdrawal is a nuisance. For someone living in Thailand on a UK pension or income, withdrawing ฿40,000 to ฿60,000 a month, it's a steady £10 to £15 a month in Thai ATM fees alone, more if your card's limit forces smaller withdrawals — plus any UK card fees, and plus the risk of a UK bank restricting an account held by someone who no longer lives in Britain.

That's when most long-stayers move to a different set-up: a Thai bank account for day-to-day spending and QR payments, funded by regular transfers from the UK through a specialist provider at close to the mid-market rate. Thai account holders withdraw from their own bank's ATMs without the foreign-card fee.

Opening a Thai account, choosing how to move money each month, and handling larger transfers for a condo, a retirement visa deposit or a pension all involve decisions that are worth getting right. We can help you think them through.

At the machine: a 30-second checklist

• Choose English on the first screen.
• Choose the account type — "Savings" or "Current" both usually work for a UK card; if one is refused, try the other.
• Enter the largest amount your card and the machine allow, not the preset buttons.
• Read the fee screen — ฿220 or ฿150 — and cancel if it's more than you expected.
• Decline conversion to pounds every time.
• Take your card first. Many Thai machines return the card after the cash — don't walk away without it.

Our step-by-step guide to how to withdraw cash in Thailand walks through every screen, and what to do if a withdrawal is refused.

A worked cash plan for two weeks

Here's how the numbers come together for a typical fortnight: two people, a mix of Bangkok and an island, needing about ฿40,000 in cash for street food, markets, taxis, boats and tips, with hotels and tours paid by card in advance.

Same holiday, same cash: £66.61 the usual way, £6.76 the careful way. The two changes that matter are the card and the size of each withdrawal; finding an AEON machine is the finishing touch.

Keep the cash split between two people or two places — a wallet and the hotel safe — so that one lost wallet doesn't mean another withdrawal. And bring a second card from a different provider, on a different network, in case a machine or a network refuses the first.

When something goes wrong at a Thai ATM

Most withdrawals go smoothly, but a few things catch travellers out:

• The machine refuses your card. Try the other account type (savings or current), then a smaller amount — your UK daily limit may be lower than you think. If it still fails, try a different bank's machine, and check your banking app for a security block you can clear.
• The machine keeps your card. Use machines at bank branches during opening hours where you can; the branch can usually retrieve a retained card with your passport. Out of hours, freeze the card in your app straight away and use your backup.
• No cash comes out, but your account is debited. Note the machine's location, time and amount, keep any receipt, and report it to your UK bank. Failed withdrawals are normally reversed, but it can take several working days.
• You're charged in pounds. If you accidentally accepted conversion, there's no undoing it for that withdrawal — just decline next time.

Our guide to a lost or stolen UK bank card in Thailand covers what to do step by step, including emergency cash. A good travel insurance policy can also help if you lose cards and cash together.

How we compiled this reference

Thai banks don't publish a single schedule of fees for foreign cards, and individual machines vary. We compiled the fees and typical limits from three recent independent guides — ThailandKnowledge (June 2026), Thailand Starter Kit (September 2026) and Thai-AEC (2026) — and checked them against each other and our own earlier research. Where sources disagree, we've said so. UK card fees are from each bank's published terms, checked 12 October 2026.

Costs are worked out at the mid-market rate of ฿44.38 to the pound (Wise, 12 October 2026). We review this page at least every six months, and sooner if Thai banks change the fee.