Chiang Rai and the northern border: Mae Sai, the Golden Triangle and Chiang Khong
Article updated: 2026-10-15
Best rate USD · Chiang Rai: 33.43 — Super Money — Chiang Rai (Prasopsuk Road) · Nov 8, 05:52 → Details
Chiang Rai province occupies Thailand’s northern tip, between Myanmar and Laos. Visitors come for the white temple, the mountains, the tea country around Mae Salong, and the two border points: Mae Sai opposite Tachileik, and the Golden Triangle on the Mekong.
It is a rewarding part of the country and a thin one for changing money: fewer foreign visitors means fewer counters. What the numbers show, though, is that the two counters the province does have were quoting rates within a few hundredths of a baht of Bangkok on 15 October 2026. The problem in the north is hours and coverage, not the rate.
Chiang Rai town
The town is small, and counters cluster near the clock tower, the night bazaar and the bus station. Of the tracked chains, Super Money has a branch at 211 Prasopsuk Road in the town centre, open 08:30 to 17:30 Monday to Saturday and closed on Sunday. Bank branches also change money, and in a town this size a bank is a reasonable fallback in a way it is not in Bangkok, though a dedicated counter will usually still beat it.
On 15 October the Prasopsuk Road board was buying US dollars at 33.48, euros at 37.50 and pounds at 44.40, against Bangkok bests of 33.51, 37.50 and 44.40. The provincial penalty on dollars was therefore 0.03 baht, 30 baht on US$1,000, and on euros and pounds nothing at all. Yen (0.2115) and Swiss francs (40.15) matched the capital, and yuan were 5.01 against 5.02. The old assumption of a 1–3% provincial penalty did not hold for any major currency.
Hours are the real constraint. Both tracked counters close by 17:30, and the town branch does not open on Sunday, so landing on a Sunday evening with no baht is awkward. Current opening hours are on the Chiang Rai page.
Mae Sai
Mae Sai is the northernmost point in Thailand, an hour or so north of Chiang Rai town by road, and the crossing to Tachileik. It is a market town first and a tourist destination second.
Twelve Victory has a branch at 296 Moo 1 in Wiang Phang Kham, open 08:00 to 16:30 on weekdays and 08:30 to 16:30 at weekends, including Sunday, which makes it the only tracked counter in the province open on a Sunday. On 15 October it was buying dollars at 33.50, the best rate in the province and 0.01 behind Bangkok.
| Currency | Super Money, Chiang Rai town | Twelve Victory, Mae Sai | Bangkok best |
|---|---|---|---|
| US dollar | 33.48 | 33.50 | 33.51 |
| Euro | 37.50 | 37.50 | 37.50 |
| Pound | 44.40 | 44.40 | 44.40 |
| Yen | 0.2115 | 0.2115 | 0.2115 |
| Rouble | not quoted | 0.33 | 0.35 |
- US dollars are the usable currency along this border. Bring hundreds: the Mae Sai board paid 33.50 for US$100 notes, 33.43 for US$50, 33.38 for US$5 to US$20 and 33.23 for US$1.
- Myanmar kyat is not on either tracked board. If it is traded, it is by the market changers in Mae Sai itself; if you come back with kyat, this is also where you will have to sell it, because a Bangkok counter is unlikely to want it.
- Euros and pounds are handled at the same rate as in town and in Bangkok.
- Yen, won, yuan and Taiwan dollars are quoted at both counters, so the older warning that minor Asian currencies are not handled in the north no longer applies to these four. Roubles are quoted only in Mae Sai, at 0.33.
- Hours are short. The Mae Sai counter closes at 16:30 every day.
Border conditions at this crossing change at short notice, and a day trip into Tachileik is not something to assume is available; check locally. The border town guide covers the same ground for Nong Khai, Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom and Mae Sot.
The Golden Triangle and Chiang Saen
Sop Ruak, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet on the Mekong, is a viewpoint and a cluster of souvenir stalls rather than a town, with no tracked exchange counter. Chiang Saen, a few kilometres downstream, has a bank or two and not much else. Treat both as places you arrive at with baht already in your pocket; boat trips, entry fees and lunch are all cash.
Chiang Khong
The crossing to Huay Xai in Laos, and the start of the slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang, which takes two days with very little on the way. If that is your route, change enough baht in Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai to cover the crossing, the Lao visa fee if one applies to your nationality, the boat and two days of food. Lao kip is traded at Nong Khai and along the Mekong crossings, but neither tracked counter in Chiang Rai quotes it.
The practical plan for the north
- Change your main amount in Chiang Mai or in Chiang Rai town on a weekday. The rate is the same within a few hundredths, so the choice is about hours: Chiang Mai’s two Super Money counters open seven days a week, the Chiang Rai branch six. The Chiang Mai guide covers where they are.
- Bring large, clean notes. The Mae Sai tiers above cost a US$20 note 0.4% and a US$1 note 0.8% against a hundred, and condition tolerance is lower in the provinces; see banknotes a Thai booth will refuse.
- Carry your passport. Licensed changers must record identification, and you need it at the border regardless.
- Arrive in Chiang Rai with enough baht for a day. Assume you may land after 17:30, or on a Sunday.
- Keep a card as backup. Bank ATMs exist in Chiang Rai, Mae Sai and Chiang Khong. The flat 220-baht fee applies, so one withdrawal of 20,000 costs 1.1% while four withdrawals of 5,000 cost 4.4%. The full arithmetic is in Thai ATM fees.
- Do not plan on changing money on the far side of a border immediately. Hours, availability and the currencies on offer vary.
Getting there
Chiang Rai has its own airport with domestic flights from Bangkok, and buses run from Chiang Mai in roughly three hours. What is published inside the terminal is on the Chiang Rai airport page; no figure is given here for the airport counters.
Within the province, transport is songthaews, local buses and rented motorbikes or cars. Mae Sai and Chiang Khong are each a substantial drive from the town, which is another argument for carrying enough cash rather than planning to top up along the way.
Who does not need to do any of this
- Anyone visiting Chiang Rai for two days from Chiang Mai. Change what you need in Chiang Mai and bring it with you.
- Anyone on an organised tour. If the white temple, the Golden Triangle and lunch are included, you need pocket money and nothing more.
- Anyone spending on a card. Your costs are your issuer’s foreign transaction fee and the 220-baht ATM charge, not the local spread.
- Anyone changing a small amount. On the equivalent of a hundred dollars, the difference between the Chiang Rai board and Bangkok’s best was three baht on 15 October.
The people this matters to are the ones going to Mae Sai or Chiang Khong to cross, carrying enough money for a week, and doing it on a Sunday, because that is where the short hours and the Sunday closure in town land at once.
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