Will the hi-tech cashless future leave a dinosaur like me behind?

[STEVE G]

You can get a very good spec device for around 5-6,000 baht these days which should last at least 3 years. Get your hand in your pocket and drag yourself into 2024!

Do Thai phone shops still take cash?

[buksida]

Lazada does, all I got from Thai phone shops was "mai mee"!

[STEVE G]

Incidentally, I've just been in a supermarket at the airport and there was a notice in Thai about QR codes and 50bt that I couldn't really understand, is that a minimum spend?

[Big Boy]

I've just seen that Starbucks go cashless from 1st October. OK, it wasn't a place I frequented very often, but I have been known to use Starbucks at airports, and sometimes in Bangkok (even used them twice in Hua Hin). Unless somebody else is paying they'll never see me again.

OK, they aren't going to go bust without my custom, but how many other dinosaurs are there?

BTW since starting this thread, I do now have mobile banking, and have use QR Code payment 3 times. However, I can't see any reason I will need it again.

[PeteC]

What happens with the tourists. Do the mechanics of this cashless process here allow them to scan/swipe and pay from their foreign bank accounts? Unless of course another new stipulation will be that all tourists will have to open up a Thai bank account upon arrival at the airport?

[Big Boy]

I was thinking exactly the same thing Pete.

It was the same when the cinema at Bluport went cashless (no alternative or way around it). I used to go at least once a week, but haven't bothered since, despite them reversing the policy. A lot of their custom (for the English soundtrack) was people on holiday. They just stopped the custom, dead.

[Bamboo Grove]

In China almost everyone uses cashless payments. However, if I'm not mistaken all the venues must accept cash according to their laws. Otherwise, they'd lose most of their tourist income.

[HHTel]

Having just spent 3 months in the UK, I found it the norm not to use cash. Even in the pubs ordering just a single drink it was paid for with a 'beep' card.

[PeteC]

There's a danger in all of this, but not so much perhaps for the new generation(s). People walking around with a wad of cash in their pockets tend to know what they've used, and how much is left. That may be his/her spending money cash allotment for the entire week.

With a card or a scan code I would think it quite easy to spend more than you think without realizing it, then come to find you've spent half of next months rent money?!

[PeteC]

^ It's the same problem many faced with the introduction of credit cards way back. All of a sudden they maxed out their credit limit without realizing they had spent so much.

[Dannie Boy]

Having just spent 3 months in the UK, I found it the norm not to use cash. Even in the pubs ordering just a single drink it was paid for with a 'beep' card.

Although most venues are happy to take card or electronic payment, the majority still take cash. I have witnessed some facilities that say “no cash” as well as others that say “cash only”, so I think we’re a long way from being a cashless society, albeit that electronic payment will no doubt one day become the norm!!

[STEVE G]

What happens with the tourists. Do the mechanics of this cashless process here allow them to scan/swipe and pay from their foreign bank accounts? Unless of course another new stipulation will be that all tourists will have to open up a Thai bank account upon arrival at the airport?

I've got a contactless Wise Visa card that seems to work everywhere in the world that has contactless terminals.
The last time I visited England I used it for everything.
The problem for tourists in Thailand is these businesses like the restaurant that BB found that only take Thai QR payments.

[caller]

I do think it will reach the stage where you need to check, and even then you might come unstuck. I went to buy some dollars from the superrich branch at Emporium in Bkk recently, and I assumed this being Thailand, I could use my debit or credit card. I checked what payments were accepted from the list displayed and credit card was up there, so I naturally thought that would do. But after queueing for 10 minutes, the lady at the desk asked for a QR code, which I said I didn't have. So I cheerfully pulled out my Thai credit card and that wasn't accepted either. Only foreign cards. As a Thai resident, my options were cash or QR code only. And as I didn't want to use my UK CC, I had to go and withdraw cash to get my dollars. Not quite sure why they won't accept a Thai CC?

[Big Boy]

Isn't this what I said from the OP? Businesses will lose trade if the customer fails to jump through any of their 'essential' hoops. Totally bonkers in my opinion.

I'm not against use of technology, and of course I can use it. It was my job for 30 years. I personally don't want to be dictated to regarding how I spend my money - I'd rather be classed as a dinosaur/excluded.

[derek60]

It's like everything else. In 10 years everybody will pay for everything electronically and nobody will think it's a problem