Marc308 Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago Just spent time in Europe (Portugal, Spain, France). During the 4 weeks of my stay, I paid nearly nothing in cash. Even the public toilets in France that charge 1 euro accept tap to pay options (including Apple Pay). I was amazed how few times I even had to drag out my credit card. Now, switch to Thailand, where "cash is (still) king" amazingly enough. What gives? Thailand has a really ubiquitous QR-based payment system (Prompt Pay) which is (still) unaccessible by foreigners (who do not have a Thai bank account). There have been a few initiatives, those from Kasitikorn Bank, for example, but all (?) the methods which exist still only can transact with "business" accounts and offer lousy exchange rates: So forget paying in street markets, with street vendors, or with people (therapists?) who often do have personal accounts but which you cannot pay. When is Thailand finally going to modernize its payment systems? India (UPI), GCash (in the Philippines), PromptPay (but only if you have a Thai bank account) are great systems which work well. Let's get with it. Politics: The GoT is intent on limiting VE stays to 30 days saying they want to cut down financial monkey business and money laundering. A far more effective way is to regularize cash flows. Or, as the Indians did a few years back, is to overnight change all 1,000 rupee notes to new ones. I wonder if the Thais might also try that approach with purple notes one day? Quote
