Things I wish I knew…

Being aliens in this Asian world, us tourists/nomads/shortstayers etc. make a lot of mistakes and learn many things… I would like to share mine right here and I hope to see those of others to learn from them.

Money:

\- be careful when taking out money from the ATM’s: it gives you a terrible exhange rate. I just took a lot of cash with me in Euros and exhanged locally. That was only 20 euros of cost to exchange €1200.
My friend however says ATM withdrawal is still cheapest but you need to select the right options. Any idea on this anybody?

Some obvious ones (but valuable for new people):

\- don’t take tuk tuks or normal taxis (they will try to scam you sometimes), take Grab or Bolt instead.
\- install the app Line, it will come in handy many times
\- immediately buy a thai Sim card (AIS is great and very cheap)
\- buy a BTS public transportation “top up” card (will save you waiting time at the machines)

Also I made an absolute noob mistake: didn’t know I needed a VISA for Vietnam because my Dutch passport got me into TH effortlessly. Extra costs for new flight and urgency VISA: 350 dollar :’ )

Interested to hear other people’s experiences!

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