PromptPay

[Gaybutton]

Another Bangkok location that took cash last year no longer does.

I have not been anywhere in Thailand that refuses cash - yet - but if and when that happens I won't be surprised and I'm expecting to encounter it sooner, rather than later.

Don't forget, the Thai government is encouraging a "cashless society" so they certainly will support use of these electronic systems. Besides, use of these systems is probably a hell of a lot less expensive than printing and minting money.

If nothing else, cash can be misplaced, lost, pickpocketed, counterfeited, or otherwise stolen. It's a little harder for criminals to get their hands on other people's money using systems such as PromptPay, so in my opinion these systems are much safer than carrying a lot of cash.

I don't know why they haven't gotten rid of those useless satang coins long ago. I would think it costs much more to mint them than they're worth. You can't even save them up and then cash them in at banks. Banks don't accept them despite the fact that it is Thai money. Convenience stores usually will still cash them in for you, but who knows how much longer. Try giving a big jar full of them to a Thai boy you've offed as his tip - but be prepared to duck when he punches you right in the nose . . .

What Bangkok location are you talking about in your post?

[Jun]

What Bangkok location are you talking about in your post?

Sook Sathorn Restaurant, in "Glowfish" near Chong Nonsi.

Also, I just tried my UK contactless card on the MRT. Rather like using UK public transport, it makes a small immediate debit and I will have to wait much longer for the amount to be corrected.

[Jun]

The transaction value for my MRT Mastercard trial has finally been updated. £0.50. Which XE converts to 21.4 baht.
The cash fare was 21 baht, so test passed.

[Gaybutton]

Sook Sathorn Restaurant, in "Glowfish" near Chong Nonsi.

I still don't know if PromptPay or any similar systems are usable by foreigners who do not hold a Thai bank account. My guess is no.

If Thailand truly wishes to be a cashless society, then if they haven't already, they are going to have to come up with something easily and conveniently available to foreigners - and they would have to make sure foreigners know about it and what they need to do to use it.

Jun's encounter at the restaurant, where cash is no longer accepted, seems like a good example of why. How would you like to be a traveler to Thailand, have no Thai bank account and no phone app through which you can pay, eat at such a restaurant, and then be told cash is not accepted when you try to pay the bill. If a restaurant tried to pull that with me, they would very quickly find out that yes they do take cash, either that or they just gave me a free meal because I only have cash as the means to pay the bill.

[Jun]

At the Glowfish, I paid with my Kasikorn card, in the card machine with a PIN. I don't know why Kasikorn contactless didn't work. I'll try it one more time, then visit the bank to ask.

I'm fairly sure my UK bank contactless would have worked and given me a notification on my phone even before they handed over the receipt.

I don't know why people would pfaff around with QR codes ahead of contactless cards. Maybe to avoid the fees charged on the transaction by the Visa/Mastercard cartel like structures (0.3% on every transaction, or whatever it is here).

Non-cash payments do make it harder for staff to dip their hands in the till.

[Gaybutton]

Non-cash payments do make it harder for staff to dip their hands in the till.

It also makes it easier to cheat the waiter out of his tip. Until cash becomes completely obsolete, I always tip in cash.

[Jun]

Today my Kasikorn contactless card worked.

I suspect it was necessary to do one chip and pin transaction before using contactless, just like with British banks. Now that's proven, it's time to get back to cash transactions.

[BKKDreamer]

Non-cash payments do make it harder for staff to dip their hands in the till.

It also makes it easier to cheat the waiter out of his tip. Until cash becomes completely obsolete, I always tip in cash.

Exactly what I do GB. Back in Budapest they started doing many payments as cashless - even BOLT - which in Budapest you can link to your bank account or debit/credit card - which makes paying for the BOLT taxi easy. BUT, I ALWAYS gave the BOLT driver or restaurant waiter/waitress or hairdresser their TIP in crispy bank notes. They ALL loved it because it eliminated the middle men who would take some of the tip that I wanted them to have --> resulting in that the BOLT taxi driver, waiter/waitress/hairdresser received a reduced tip. Also, in some of these places where they believed in the woke socialist approach - then their tips were greatly reduced as the tip had to share with so many others in the woke socialist system - thus reducing the incentive to perform. Cash is king - as most people LOVE getting CASH!!!

[Gaybutton]

heir tips were greatly reduced as the tip had to share with so many others in the woke socialist system

I wonder what the person you intended the tip for would actually end up getting. My guess is if they're really lucky, maybe 25 cents on the dollar.

[ceejay]

At least one of the "coin operated" laundries in Chiang Mai is now cashless. You put your laundry in a machine and set it for the program you want to use. Then you pay by scanning a QR code and the machine starts.

I like Prompt Pay. If you use it where you might have used a debit card before, and use the "Cardless ATM" feature in the banking app to get cash then your physical debit card never goes in a machine. That means it can't be cloned.