Originally Posted by
invisible
Is Khao Lak a forest with hippies for you? I was there last month. There are close to 50 restaurants/places and about 5 take credit cards. All of them are at 5 star resorts where dinner will cost 10x the price on a street restaurant.
If I was thinking of a place as an example where I couldn't rely on cards, Khao Lak would not be one of them.
Yes, if you want to go trekking in the highlands or sailing from village to village, a good cash store is required, but in the tourist areas, ATM's are easily accessible.
If going to a business centre I tend to have about £200 worth of local currency. If going off the beaten track I may double that and have a couple of hundred dollars and or a couple of hundred euros, which may come in handy.