Leftover baht: buy-back rates, spending it, or keeping it before you fly home
Article updated: 2026-09-16
Best rate USD · Bangkok: 33.24 — Superrich Thailand — Headquarter Rajdamri 1 · Sep 20, 08:58 → Details
Changing money back at the end of a trip is where the second half of the spread gets collected. It is worth five minutes of planning.
Why the return trip costs more than you think
When you arrived, you used the Buying column. Going home you use Selling — you are buying foreign currency from the shop with baht.
Both directions carry a margin, and you pay both. On a major currency at a competitive shop, the round trip might cost 1–2% in total. At an airport counter, it can be 8–10%.
The airport is the worst place to do it
Same as on arrival: departure-hall counters have the widest spreads in the country. If you must change at the airport, expect to lose meaningfully more than in the city.
Four better options
1. Spend down deliberately. Put the last hotel bill, the final dinner and any souvenirs on a card, and use cash for everything until it runs out. This costs you nothing.
2. Change it in the city, not the airport. If you have a real amount left — say over 10,000 baht — a city shop will give you a far better selling rate than the terminal. Compare the selling column: the shop with the best buying rate is not always the one with the best selling rate.
3. Keep it for next time. If you visit Thailand more than about once a year, holding the notes costs you nothing and saves the round-trip spread entirely. Banknotes do not expire.
4. Donate the coins. Thai coins cannot be exchanged anywhere outside Thailand, and most shops will not take them either. Donation boxes at the airport and at temples are the practical answer.
If you are changing back, check the selling column
On THX, switch the widget to “buy foreign currency with baht” and the ranking flips to show the lowest selling rates first. That is the number that matters when you are going home, and it is a different ranking from the arrival one.
A note on large amounts
There is no practical limit on taking foreign currency out of Thailand for ordinary travellers, but carrying a large amount of cash through an airport is simply a risk. Spending down, or converting in the city and splitting it between bags, is safer than doing it all at the gate.