About worthabroad

worthabroad is an independent reference that shows what US dollars are really worth in Thailand — today's mid-market rate, what it buys, what visas cost, and what transfers lose to fees.

Most currency tools stop at the number. The harder questions — what that number actually buys, what a visa really costs you, and how much a transfer quietly loses — are the rest of this site.

Who's behind it

worthabroad is built and maintained by the worthabroad editorial team — a small group focused on making cross-border money legible to people moving between the US dollar and the Thai baht. We are independent: we take no payment to change a figure, and the exchange rates and cost models below are computed the same way for everyone.

How we work — our methodology

The exchange rate

Every conversion uses the mid-market (interbank) rate — the midpoint of the buy and sell price, with no markup added. Rates come from the European Central Bank's daily reference rates via the Frankfurter API (USD base) and are baked into every page once a day, so the figures you see match the rate for that date. The live converter also refreshes on load and falls back silently to the baked rate if the network is unavailable. The mid-market rate is a reference point, not an offer — the rate you actually get from a bank, card, or transfer service will differ, which is exactly what the fees pages measure.

Visa figures

Visa financial requirements are transcribed verbatim from official and specialist sources — we do not round, estimate, or invent them, and each visa page lists the sources it consulted. Requirements set in Thai baht are shown with a live dollar equivalent; figures already fixed in US dollars (such as LTR income tests) are shown as dollar facts and are not run through the converter. Requirements vary by consulate and change over time, so every visa page carries the same caution: verify with the Thai embassy or consulate handling your application before you rely on any figure.

Fees & transfer comparisons

The fee pages use an illustrative model that adds up the two things that actually cost you money on a transfer — the fixed fee and the gap between the rate you get and the mid-market rate — across common channels (a low-fee transfer service, ATM withdrawals, and airport or bank exchange). The margins are representative of typical pricing for orientation; the exact cost depends on your provider and the day.

Cost-of-living figures

Purchasing-power and monthly-budget figures are orientation, not a survey: a lean, mostly-local baseline converted to US dollars at today's rate, meant as a starting point rather than a precise cost index. A more Western lifestyle, central housing, or a family will run well above them.

Corrections

Found a figure that looks off? Each page links the sources it draws on — check them first, and treat the official embassy or consulate as the final word on any visa requirement. This is general information for orientation, not financial, immigration, or tax advice.