Changing money in East Pattaya (the Darkside): the nearest counters
Article updated: 2026-10-04
Best rate USD · Pattaya: 33.53 — T21 : Terminal 21 Pattaya - G Floor · Oct 24, 19:45 → Details
Before you exchange:Go City ↗Klook ↗Airport transfer ↗
East Pattaya, which residents call the Darkside, is everything on the inland side of Sukhumvit Road: Soi Siam Country Club, Soi Khao Talo, Soi Khao Noi, Soi Nern Plub Wan and the roads around Mabprachan lake. It is villas and housing estates, home to people who stay for months or years, and very few tourists walk its streets. That shapes the money-changing map more than anything else.
This guide is for people living or staying on that side. The short version: the counters are on Sukhumvit Road or just west of it, the rate there is nearly the same as the best in town, and the sensible plan is to change money on a trip you were making anyway.
What is on the east side, and what is not
ThaiRate tracks 64 counters in Pattaya. None of them is east of Sukhumvit Road. We found no licensed money-changer chain that publishes its rates on that side, so there is nothing there we can read and compare. That is not the same as saying nobody changes money on the Darkside; it means no counter there shows a rate we can track.
What the east side does have is bank branches and ATMs. Both work, and both usually cost more than a money changer, for reasons covered further down.
The four closest tracked counters
All four are branches of T.T. Currency Exchange, the chain described in our T.T. guide.
| Branch | Where | Hours (daily) |
|---|---|---|
| Little Walk Pattaya | Little Walk shopping mall (Villa Market), Sukhumvit Road | 10:00–20:00 |
| Big C Extra Central Pattaya | G floor, Central Pattaya Road (Pattaya Klang) | 09:30–19:30 |
| Pattaya Floating Market | Sukhumvit Road | 09:00–19:00 |
| Najomtien | Sukhumvit Road, Na Jomtien | 09:30–20:30 |
Which one is nearest depends on which soi you come down. Each branch page has a map and today’s board.
Is the centre worth the drive?
On 2026-10-04 these four counters bought US dollars in large notes (100s and 50s) at 33.30 baht. The best counter anywhere in Pattaya bought at 33.38. The difference is 0.08 baht per dollar, which is 80 baht on 1,000 dollars.
Eighty baht does not cover the fuel, the parking and the time of a run to the beach side. For ordinary amounts the nearest Sukhumvit Road counter is fine.
Note size matters more than location. At the same four counters, 20s down to 5s were bought at 32.90 and 2s and 1s at 32.40. Changing 1,000 dollars in small notes instead of large ones costs 400 baht or more, five times what the trip into town would have saved. Bring large, clean notes.
For euros, pounds and other currencies, today’s figures are on the live Pattaya page.
Banks and ATMs on the east side
Bank branches generally buy foreign cash at a lower rate than money changers. They also keep shorter hours: usually bank hours on weekdays, with many branches closed at weekends unless they sit inside a mall. A passport is needed at a bank and at a money changer alike.
ATMs are the fallback when everything is shut. A foreign card pays the Thai ATM fee on every withdrawal, so take out one large amount instead of several small ones; the details are in Thai ATM fees. When the machine offers to charge your card in your home currency, decline it and stay in baht. Dynamic currency conversion explains why.
A routine for Darkside residents
- Change money on days you already cross Sukhumvit Road. The supermarket run to Big C Extra or to Villa Market at Little Walk puts you beside a counter.
- Check the live list before you leave. The Pattaya shop list shows each counter’s rate and whether it is open.
- Go early. These counters close between 19:00 and 20:30, earlier than the beach-side branches that run until 23:00.
- Carry your passport.
- Bring large, clean notes. Small or worn ones pay less.
If you are heading to the beach side anyway and want the wider picture of the city, from Second Road to Jomtien, see the Pattaya money exchange guide. Otherwise, the counter on your side of town is close enough to the best rate that convenience should decide.