Do you need your passport to exchange money in Thailand?
Article updated: 2026-10-15
Best rate USD · Bangkok: 33.50 — Superrich Thailand — Headquarter Rajdamri 1 · Nov 8, 05:52 → Details
Short answer: yes, bring it. Every licensed money changer in Thailand is required to record identification for exchange transactions, and that applies at all 86 tracked counters in Bangkok, the 62 in Pattaya and every provincial branch alike.
Why they ask
Thailand regulates foreign-exchange businesses through the Bank of Thailand, and licensed operators must keep records of who exchanged what. The counter staff will typically scan or photograph the identity page of your passport, or type the number into their system. At the larger chains the scan takes a few seconds and the number prints on the receipt.
This is not a scam and it is not optional for them. A shop that does not ask is worth being cautious about, because the licence is the thing that keeps the rate honest. Every counter on this site publishes its rates and holds a licence; that is the condition for being included at all.
What is accepted
- Passport. Always accepted, the standard document for visitors.
- Photo of your passport on a phone. Very commonly accepted for small amounts, but entirely at the shop’s discretion. Larger branches and mall locations are stricter.
- Thai ID card. For residents.
- Driving licence from your home country. Usually not sufficient on its own.
The rule is the same whether you are changing US$100 or US$5,000. What changes with the amount is how carefully the document is checked and whether a photo will do.
How to spot a licensed shop
Licensed money changers display a permit issued by the Bank of Thailand at the place of business. It is printed on blue and white watermarked paper with an embossed seal in the lower right corner.
The chains tracked here are all licensed operators. In Bangkok as of 15 October 2026 that means SuperRich 1965 with 36 counters, Superrich Thailand with 23, Twelve Victory with 14, Value Plus with 4, Happy Rich and K79 with 3 each, and Grand Superrich, Vasu Exchange and X-One with one each. In Pattaya it is T.T. Currency Exchange with 59 branches plus one each from Superrich Thailand, SuperRich 1965 and Damini. Every one of them will ask for your passport, so the question is never whether, only whether a photo will be enough.
Practical advice
- Carry the physical passport when you plan to change a meaningful amount. Many hotels no longer hold passports, so this is usually not an inconvenience.
- Keep a photo as backup on your phone for small transactions and for the walk to the shop.
- Keep the receipt. Licensed shops always issue one. It is your only evidence if a count is disputed later, and it carries the rate you were paid, which is the number to compare against the board on your phone.
- Count at the counter, before you step away. Staff expect this and will wait.
- Check the tier you were paid. The receipt should show the rate for the notes you handed over. On 15 October the Bangkok head office that set the city’s best dollar rate paid 33.51 for US$100 notes but 33.25 for US$1 notes; if you handed over hundreds and the receipt shows the small-note line, say so before you leave the window. Which banknotes to bring explains the tiers.
Large amounts
There is no everyday limit that affects normal travellers. For very large sums, expect additional questions and paperwork, and understand that a small booth may simply not hold enough baht on hand. If you are changing the equivalent of several thousand US dollars, a head office branch is a better choice than a mall kiosk.
That has a timing consequence. The head office of Superrich Thailand on Rajdamri 1, which quoted Bangkok’s best dollar, euro and pound rates on 15 October (33.51, 37.50 and 44.40), closes at 18:00 on weekdays, opens 09:30 to 17:00 on Saturday and is closed on Sunday. Vasu Exchange by BTS Nana and X-One on Surawong Road, two of the independents that compete with it, are also closed on Sunday. If you are carrying the trip’s cash and want the head-office rate, plan to arrive on a weekday afternoon with the passport in hand. Of the 63 Bangkok counters with known hours, 58 are open on Sunday, so a Sunday change is perfectly possible, just not at the head office.
Passport, hours and the late counters
Because the passport check happens at the window, there is no way to pre-register or change money by proxy; the person whose name is on the document has to be present. That matters most late in the evening. The tracked counters open at 21:00 or later in Bangkok are the Happy Rich desk at the Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link station (05:00 to 24:00), the Happy Rich counter on the Don Mueang Red Line walkway (05:00 to 22:00) and Value Plus on Soi Thaniya in Silom (12:00 to 23:00). In Pattaya the T.T. Currency Exchange Central branch is open until 23:00 and the Again Pattaya and Central Pattaya branches until 22:00. If one member of a group holds the cash and another holds the passports, make sure the same person is at the counter. Bangkok’s late-opening counters has the full list.
Provincial counters
The same rule applies outside the big cities, and the counters are fewer. Chiang Mai has two tracked counters, Hua Hin four, Chiang Rai two, Udon Thani and Hat Yai one each. In Chiang Rai the Super Money branch on Prasopsuk Road is closed on Sunday, leaving Twelve Victory in Mae Sai, which closes at 16:30. A photo of the passport is less likely to be accepted where the staff see fewer foreign documents, so in the provinces carry the original.
One thing that is not required
You do not need a Thai bank account, a local phone number, or a hotel booking to exchange cash. Anyone with valid identification can walk in. The counter does not record your address in Thailand, and it does not matter whether you entered on a visa exemption, a tourist visa or a long-stay permit.
What the counter will not do
A licensed money changer will not exchange cash for someone who presents a copy of a third party’s passport, will not split a large transaction across several passports to keep each below a threshold, and will not change money on the basis of a hotel key card or a boarding pass. None of that is pedantry; it is the licence condition that lets these shops quote rates within a fraction of a per cent of the mid-market rate. On 15 October the best Bangkok dollar board sat 0.2% below the mid-market rate of 33.58, and the passport check is part of what makes that possible.
The live boards for every tracked counter are on the Bangkok page and the other city pages, each with opening hours and a map, and the shop directory lists them all.
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