Google shows the interbank mid-rate, which no exchange office pays. On 4 September 2026 CAT Exchange buys 50 and 100 dollar notes at 32.5 THB per dollar and euros at 37.71 THB per euro, with the commission already inside the rate.
Key facts
- On 4 September 2026 CAT Exchange buys 50 and 100 dollar notes at 32.5 THB per dollar.
- Euro cash is bought at 37.71 THB per euro on 4 September 2026.
- 5, 10 and 20 dollar notes are bought at 32.33 THB per dollar on 4 September 2026.
- 1 and 2 dollar notes are bought at 31.84 THB per dollar on 4 September 2026.
- A confirmed exchange rate holds for 60 minutes after you agree it in chat.
- An exchange takes up to 15 minutes at the Bang Tao counter.
- The office is open 12 hours a day, 09:00 to 21:00, at 246 Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd.
- Ruble cash trades at a wider spread than dollars or euros, quoted within 60 minutes.
Why does the board rate differ from Google?
Google shows the interbank mid-rate, the price at which banks trade currency with each other in large volumes. It sits exactly in the middle between the price someone will pay for your dollars and the price someone will charge you for dollars. Nobody at a counter trades at the middle.
An exchange office quotes two numbers around that middle. It buys your foreign notes below the mid-rate and sells them above it, and the distance between the two is the spread. That spread pays for rent, staff, the licence, the cash held in the safe and the daily trip to the bank.
The mid-rate is still worth checking. It tells you where the market is today, so you can see whether an offer sits close to it or far from it.
What do buy and sell mean on the board?
Buy is what the office pays for your foreign currency. Sell is what the office charges when you hand over baht and want dollars back. As a visitor changing dollars, euros or pounds into baht, you read the buy column and nothing else.
| Column | Who acts | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Buy | Office buys your notes | The rate you get for USD, EUR, GBP |
| Sell | Office sells you notes | The rate when you swap baht back |
| Mid | Interbank market | Reference only, not available at a counter |
The buy column is your number when you arrive with foreign notes. The sell column applies at the end of a trip when you convert leftover baht. The mid-rate belongs to the interbank market and is a reference point rather than an offer.
A currency exchange spread is the gap between the buy and sell price around the interbank mid-rate. Reading the buy column is what matters when you change foreign notes into Thai baht, and the sell column when you change baht back.
Why does the denomination change the rate?
Large notes earn a better rate because they resell better. An office collects your notes and passes them to a Thai bank, which prefers clean, high-denomination paper it can count and ship in bundles, so the office pays more for a 100 than for a stack of fives.
On 4 September 2026 CAT Exchange pays 32.5 THB per US dollar on 50 and 100 notes, 32.33 THB on 5, 10 and 20 notes, and 31.84 THB on 1 and 2 dollar notes. Euros run on one rate of 37.71 THB whatever the note.
Dollars, yuan and ringgit run in denomination tiers at CAT Exchange. Euros, pounds, francs and dirhams take a single rate whatever note you hand over.
Every tier for every currency is on the rates page, and the USD to THB page works through examples for each dollar tier.
Condition counts as well. As of 2026, offices across Thailand discount or refuse torn, taped, stamped and heavily worn notes, because the receiving bank applies the same test. Pre-2006 US dollars, the white series, still convert at a lower rate than current blue-seal notes.
How do you compare two offers?
Compare the baht you receive, not the rate you are shown. Multiply your exact amount by each quoted rate, subtract any fee the office adds at the counter, and put the two totals next to each other.
Comparing exchange offers in baht rather than percent removes the guesswork: multiply the amount by the quoted rate, subtract any counting or handling fee, and compare the final totals. CAT Exchange quotes a net rate, so the commission is already inside the number.
The trap is the fee that appears after the board. A rate that looks a little stronger loses to a rate that includes everything, and you only find out at the counter after the notes have been counted. Ask one question before you travel: is anything added to this number?
Ask two more while you are there. Does the rate depend on my note denominations, and how long does the quote hold? At CAT Exchange the answer to the second is 60 minutes from the moment you confirm the deal in chat, which covers the drive from Laguna, Cherng Talay, Boat Avenue, Layan or Surin.
Why do rates move during the day?
Rates follow the interbank market, which moves through the trading day. The dollar, the euro and the baht all trade continuously, and an office that resells its notes daily has to reprice as the market moves or lose money on the resale.
CAT Exchange fixes a confirmed exchange rate for 60 minutes after the customer agrees to it in WhatsApp or Telegram. The office at 246 Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd, Si Sunthon, works daily from 09:00 to 21:00, and an exchange takes up to 15 minutes at the counter.
Ruble cash sits apart from this logic. Fewer offices on Phuket handle it and the notes take longer to move on, so the spread is wider than for dollars or euros as of 2026, which is a market condition rather than a policy of one office.
Take the number as a snapshot. The figures on these pages belong to 4 September 2026, and the current board plus the route to the counter are on the rates page and the Bang Tao office page.
For euro notes specifically, the EUR to THB page carries the current rate and the examples.
Bang Tao office
246 Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd, Si Sunthon, Thalang District, Phuket 83110, Thailand- HoursDaily 09:00–21:00
- Phone+66 84 263 9185
FAQ
Why can I not get the rate I see on Google?
That number is the interbank mid-rate between banks trading in volume. Every counter quotes a buy and a sell price around it, and the gap covers the cost of running the office.
What is a net rate?
A net rate means every cost sits inside the quoted number. At CAT Exchange nothing is added for counting the notes or handing over the baht, so your amount multiplied by the rate is the baht you carry out.
Does a larger amount get a better rate?
The published rate covers ordinary amounts. For a large exchange, send the sum in chat and the office quotes it individually before you travel.
How long is a quoted rate valid?
60 minutes after you confirm the deal in WhatsApp or Telegram. Rates move with the market during the day, so the quote is tied to that window.
Which column do I read as a tourist?
The buy column, since the office is buying your dollars, euros or pounds. Read the sell column at the end of the trip if you want to convert leftover baht back.