Thailand and Pattaya Paperwork And Money

If you've never been to Thailand and Pattaya you need to know the basic information of what type of paperwork to complete at home and what to do for money when you get to Thailand.

Paperwork To Do at Home

What You Need

• Passport.  Get this now if you do not already have it.
• Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC). This was started in 2025.  It is free.  Do not do it until 72 hours or sooner prior to your flight.  Provide the details from your passport onto the TDAC. Provide your flight number and name of your first night hotel.

A passport should be the first thing you get as you start to prepare for your first Pattaya Trip

Optional Paperwork or Not Necessary

• International Driver's License.  Only if you plan on renting a vehicle, motorbike or scooter.  I don't think you even need one for a scooter.  I don't recommend you drive in Pattaya anyway.  It's safer to walk or take other transportation.
• Travel Insurance.  I like the peace of mind in having travel insurance.  It is not that expensive for a short trip.
• A Visa.  For most tourists from Western countries, you will obtain a Visa on arrival, meaning once you enter Thailand, the Thai immigration office, as you are passing through the airport will provide you a tourist Visa that allows you to stay in Thailand.  The last few times I went, the Visa was for 60 days.  

Paperwork to Bring Along in Paper and Electronic Form

I bring a manila file folder in my backpack to contain the most critical papers.

I keep all this in my phone and my computer too.  But you are going to the other side of the frickin’ world.  Do you trust your phone not to get lost or broken or not to work?  Your computer?  What if you drop it or it gets stolen or it gets jazzed up and doesn’t work?

Multiple Copies of My:

• Passport.  This is the most critical.  DO NOT carry your passport around on you in Pattaya.  Keep it locked up in your hotel room safe.  Make sure your hotel room has a safe.  Make sure you check before you book a room.  I keep a folded-up copy in my wallet.  This is the copy you give to the Money Exchange when you exchange your money.  They ask for it when you exchange $500 US or more.  They will take it and make a copy and give it back.  When I’ve exchanged less than $500, they have not asked for it.
• Driver’s License from your home country.  Second most critical.  I have multiple copies in the file.  I put my card in the hotel room safe and just carry a paper copy in my wallet.  

One Copy of:

• Flight Details.  The airline will email you a PDF of the details (date, day, time, etc.).  When you check in, you will just give them your passport, and they will have a record.  But on one trip, they gave me the wrong seat.   I had paid a lot of extra  money to get an upgraded seat.  
• Hotel Confirmation.  The hotel app will email you a PDF of the hotel details (day, dates, check in/out time, hotel address, etc.).
• Travel Insurance.  They will email you a PDF of all the details.  I make a copy for my file and leave a copy at home.
• Taxi email exchange.  Confirmation from Bangkok Airport to Pattaya hotel confirmation email.
• Contacts List with phone numbers and/or email addresses.  All the people and places that are critical to me.  You may not have use of your cell phone and need to contact someone or someplace.

What About Money?  How Do You Pay For Things

Thailand and Pattaya is a mostly cash country.  You need to bring US cash (USD) or your countries paper money and exchange it for Thai Baht (ThB) for all your daily expenses or go to ATMs to pull out ThB from your home countries bank.

I have developed some simple tools that I update daily to keep track of my Pattaya costs so I don't stress about money.  With these tools I know day by day where I'm at financially.

Here is What You Will Need Thai Baht (ThB) For:

• Meals and snacks of any kind and anywhere.
• Drinks of any kind and anywhere.
• Anything you buy at any store.
• Local transportation, buses, baht buses, taxis, Bolt, Grab, motorbike taxis.
• Anything having to do with the ladies.
• Admissions to anything.
• Trinkets you buy from street vendors.
• Massages.
• Barbershop services.
• Products at pharmacies.
• Anything at 7-11 and other small stores like that.

Basically once I put my credit cards in my hotel safe, I did not take them out until I left to go home.

More About Cash

Know your PIN for a number of your credit cards as a backup or emergency fund.

Obviously, getting cash from your credit cards and even using the ATM from your bank account is going to cost a lot extra for every transaction.  The ATM's will only let you pull out a modest amount at a time.  On a busy night, late at night, the ATMs might run out of cash.

In order to avoid the fees and know you will have enough when you want it (maybe really need it), I recommend you bring a large chunk of your home countries cash on your person to Thailand and Pattaya.

Not going to lie, accumulating $3,000 to $5,000 for each of my trips has been difficult.  I am used to paying for things with credit cards and rarely have much cash on me at home in the US.

I have a lot of debts to deal with, car repairs, big costs involved with staying healthy as an aging man and the enormous cost of living in a US college city.

But once you’re vacationing in Thailand and Pattaya, you will need to have cash. 

More About Cash

You will carry a large sum your countries paper money cash on the plane and then exchange it little by little over the course of your trip for ThB.

I recommend you obtain at least $3,000 USD.  More is better.  I like to bring $5,000 for anywhere from a 1 to 2.5 week long trip.  You can always bring it home.  

This paper money cash needs to be in big denominations.  $100’s USD are best, that’s what I take.  I believe $50’s are ok too.  But nothing smaller than that.

The cash needs to be in as good shape as possible.  New bills if possible.  Most banks are not cooperative on this.  I go to the teller and beg or at least tell them I need nice bills for an international trip.  Then we both study the $100’s to try to pick out the newest ones that have not been folded with no rips, tears or marks.

You may need to go back to the bank several times in order to ensure you have as good of bills as possible. It's a PITA.

Start accumulating your cash early, don't wait until just before your trip.

Do not fold the cash 

Keep them unfolded.  You will need one of those long wallets.

A long wallet is absolutely critical to carry your countries money to Thailand. The currency exchange will not accept cash that is in poor shape

Thailand and Pattaya Money Exchange Rate

Currency Exchange Booth. Note that they post the rate from various countries. On this picture, the US rate is 34.90

There are a lot of little exchange rate booths all over Pattaya.

You go up to the booth, wait for the person behind the heavy bullet-proof glass to acknowledge you,then slide however much of your countries cash you want to convert to ThB.

On my first trip I only exchanged $200 USD at a time.  As I grew more experienced, I usually exchanged $500 USD each time.

I seem to get the best exchange rate for my US dollars early in the trip.  I have tracked this on every trip and it has always been the case.  So I usually exchange $500 at a time each day early in my trip (i.e. if I arrive on Sunday, $500 Sunday, $500 Monday, $500 Tuesday, $500 Wednesday).  $2,000 should be enough for me to have a great time for quite a few days.  Then I see how it goes later on in my trip to see if I need to exchange more.

There are some at the Suvarnabhumi airport to pay for your first transportation to Pattaya.

Handy Exchange Rate Calculator

You can plug in the country and numbers in this calculator and it should tell you what you need to know. 

Thailand and Pattaya Wrap Up

All of Thailand is extremely welcoming to millions of tourists every year, but they expect that you will do your part, prepare, know some of the basics and spend some money having the time of your life.