Would it be any different from a Brit withdrawing 5,000 Baht from a British bank account, or a European with a European bank account?

The question at the heart of this matter is, exactly how does tourist foreign currency help the Thai economy and the Baht. We know that tourist money helps the econony through increased spending and money circulation in the economy, that part is fine. But if the tourist's foreign currency comes from a foreign bank card, how does foreign currency actually get into the country, or doesn't it? Does it enter because of bank/card end of day settlement? If so, how does it work? Poster Fletchsmile knows but he's sleeping.

I know an old man about my height that built an entire house in Thailand about 30 years ago by pulling rolls of Thai baht from the wall, from his Australian bank account.

I've got no idea how it worked, except I (I mean he) pushed his card into the slot and money came out 50K at a time (actually it could have been 100K or more, I can't remember. Whatever my daily limit was anyway).

From memory, the exchange rate was no worse than going to a Thai bank or money exchange and doing it on the counter.

There was a couple of dollars in fees, but it wasn't much.

I'm sure there were better ways of doing it, but that was real convenient for him.

I think the Thai bank makes the money from the exchange rate because they issue Baht from their ATM and need to get paid in return, by Fernando's bank in Mexico. Question is, how do they do that? Does the Mexican bank pay the bank in Thailand in peso's or do they buy Dollars and send them to Thailand, I'm pretty sure they don't buy Baht. And if they do buy Dollars, who do they buy them from?

I think MAYBE the Thai bank issues a debit against the Mexican bank in Baht, this then gets sent to the BOT once a day at clearing time when all accounts are settled. The BOT then settles the accounts at the national level via the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). At the same time, the Mexican bank sends peso's equal to 5k Baht, to the Mexican clearing bank, which in turn sends it to BIS for settlement. BIS ends up with two transactions which offset and and are routed to the corresponding central banks.

BUT BIS does not have its own currency, it only holds currency of its member banks. So BIS has credited the BOT account with funds from the Mexican central bank hence BOT ends up with the foreign currency in its account, which in turn is paid in Baht, to the Thai bank that issued Fernando with the 5k baht from its ATM.

I'm only 80/90% on this and need somebody who actually knows what they are talking about to fill in the gaps and correct the process. 

My statement from AU bank simply says "withdrawal from Ching Chong bank $Au..."
I look at and think "that was ... Thai baht, sounds about right"

Actually, even to the day. The wife has Thai bank accounts, she generally carries a few rolls of 1000 baht notes in her handbag. When we arrive at Swampy we normally just slap the card in the machine and pull out some more baht, and continue on our way. It's just easy, and I don't think it costs much in fees and the like.

Dear Ms. CM,

it has come to our notice you have some serious doubt on the forex mechanism and its effect on the value of the Thai Baht which you fear decreases your holdings dramatically.

Being such a valuable customer we are happy to offer you a special program which will eliminate any problems and doubts you could possibly have. Please fill in the appended form, just the normal name, address, account number and so, and return to us. We will take care of matters from there.

With best regards and sincerely yours,
Reliable Unit Bank Logistics