Quick answer: For a normal Southeast Asia holiday, a low-markup credit card plus a small amount of local cash beats everything else. Standard Indian cards cost roughly 3.5 to 4.5 percent all-in once markup, cross-currency fees and GST are counted. Forex cards win only if you are crossing the ₹10 lakh LRS threshold or want spending discipline. UPI abroad is real but far narrower than the headlines suggest.
There is a lot of confident advice about travel money and most of it compares one fee against another instead of the total. Here is the total, for the countries Indians actually fly to.
The All-In Cost of Each Method
Method | What you actually pay | Best for |
|---|---|---|
Indian credit card | 2–3.5% forex markup + ~1% network cross-currency fee + 18% GST on the fee → roughly 3.5–4.5% effective | Hotels, restaurants, malls, online bookings |
Zero-markup credit card | Close to interbank, terms vary and change often | Everything, if you hold one |
Forex prepaid card | Issue ₹100–500, reload ₹50–100, GST on conversion, cross-currency 2–3.5% if you spend outside the loaded currency | Large spends, budget discipline, multi-country trips |
ATM withdrawal abroad | Indian bank ₹125–200 + local operator fee + markup → up to ~11% on a small withdrawal | Cash you genuinely need, in few large pulls |
UPI | No markup where it works | A small and specific list of countries |
Cash carried from India | Money-changer spread | Backup, arrival-day expenses |
The number that surprises people is the ATM one. Withdraw ₹10,000 worth of baht in Thailand and you pay a flat 220 THB terminal fee — roughly ₹550 — on top of your bank's ₹125 to 200 and the 3 to 3.5 percent markup. That is close to eleven percent. Withdraw ₹40,000 in one go and the same fees land at under three percent.
Fewer, larger ATM withdrawals. Always.
The Trap That Costs More Than All Fees Combined
Dynamic Currency Conversion. A card terminal or a website asks whether you would like to pay in Indian rupees instead of the local currency. It looks helpful. It is the most expensive button in travel.
Choosing INR hands the exchange rate to the merchant's payment processor, and the rate is typically 3 to 8 percent worse than interbank — on top of whatever your card charges anyway.
Always choose the local currency. Baht in Thailand, dong in Vietnam, rupiah in Indonesia. Every time, including on airline websites and hotel checkouts.
If a terminal has already been set to INR before it reaches you, ask for it to be cancelled and re-run in local currency. Merchants can do this; some will pretend they cannot.
Where UPI Actually Works
UPI abroad is real, and it is genuinely useful in a handful of places. It is also routinely overstated. As of a February 2026 government release, UPI is live in more than eight countries — the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius and Qatar — but "live" means very different things in each.
Country | What you can actually do |
|---|---|
UAE | Merchant QR at 60,000+ outlets — the strongest corridor |
Nepal, Bhutan | Merchant QR, widely usable |
Sri Lanka | Merchant QR at LankaPay-enabled merchants |
Mauritius, Qatar | Merchant QR, live |
Singapore | Mostly P2P remittance, merchant QR only at selected outlets |
France | Narrow — the Eiffel Tower and selected e-commerce, not general retail |
Maldives | P2P remittance only since July 2026; merchant payments are a later phase |
The Singapore point matters, because it is the one most often stated wrongly. UPI–PayNow is primarily a remittance rail between bank accounts. Do not land in Singapore expecting to pay for dinner by scanning.
And note: UPI is not live for merchant payments anywhere in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia or the Philippines — which is to say, most of where Indians actually travel in Southeast Asia.
What Each Country Actually Runs On
Country | Payment reality |
|---|---|
Thailand | PromptPay QR is near-universal locally; cards fine in malls and hotels; cash for tuk-tuks and street food |
Vietnam | VietQR is the standard but needs a local account; cash still dominant outside Hanoi and HCMC |
Indonesia / Bali | QRIS is unified but needs a local wallet; cash essential at warungs and markets; low ATM limits force repeat trips |
Malaysia | DuitNow QR plus reliable card, Apple Pay and Google Pay acceptance |
Singapore | The most card-friendly country in the region; you barely need cash |
Philippines | GCash and Maya dominate; hybrid — cash still common outside malls |
Sri Lanka | UPI works at LankaPay merchants; cash still dominant outside Colombo and resorts |
The pattern across the region: local QR systems are everywhere and almost none of them accept a foreign visitor, because they are tied to a local bank account. This is why cash still matters more in Southeast Asia than the "cashless Asia" narrative suggests.
Forex Cards: When They Are Worth It
Forex prepaid cards get recommended reflexively. They are genuinely better in three situations:
You are crossing ₹10 lakh in LRS remittances this financial year. Above that, 20 percent TCS applies on other-purpose LRS. It is refundable, but you should plan the cash flow. See our explainer on TCS for foreign travel.
You want a hard spending ceiling — for a student, a first solo trip, or a group kitty.
You want to lock a rate when the rupee is moving against you.
Their weaknesses are specific:
Cross-currency charges. Spend in a currency you did not load and you pay 2 to 3.5 percent depending on the issuer. On a multi-country Southeast Asia trip, that eats the benefit unless you load each currency.
GST on conversion applies at the load, calculated on a slab basis under GST Rule 32(2)(b) — small in absolute terms on a normal trip, but real.
Inactivity fees on some cards.
Unloading is not free, and banks generally do not refund TCS already collected on funds you return.
Typical issuance and reload charges sit around ₹100 to ₹500 to issue and ₹50 to ₹100 to reload, depending on the bank — check the current schedule, because these change.
The Setup We Would Actually Recommend
For a one to two week Southeast Asia trip, no LRS complications:
A credit card with a low or zero forex markup as the primary. Check what yours actually charges — many Indian cards are at 3.5 percent, and a few are at zero.
A debit card kept for ATMs only, used two or three times for large withdrawals.
Arrival cash: about ₹5,000 to ₹8,000 equivalent in local currency, bought in India or withdrawn once at the airport, to cover the taxi and first day.
Notify both banks of your travel dates and enable international usage in the app before you fly. Indian cards are blocked for international use by default on most issuers.
Always pay in local currency.
For a multi-country trip above ₹10 lakh, add a forex card loaded per currency and keep track of the LRS aggregate.
Key Takeaways
A standard Indian card costs 3.5 to 4.5 percent all-in abroad, not the 2 percent on the fee schedule.
DCC is the biggest single leak — 3 to 8 percent — and it is entirely avoidable.
ATM fees are flat, so withdraw rarely and in large amounts.
UPI works in eight-plus countries, but effectively nowhere in Southeast Asia for merchant payments. Do not plan around it.
Forex cards earn their keep above the ₹10 lakh LRS line or when you want a hard budget, not by default.
Enable international usage before you fly.
Is it better to carry US dollars and change them locally?
Rarely, now. Rates at Southeast Asian money changers for USD are decent but you carry theft risk and lose on two conversions. The exception is Vietnam and Cambodia, where USD is widely accepted directly.
Do I still need cash in Bali and Bangkok?
Yes. Warungs, markets, tuk-tuks, temple donations and small drivers are cash. Budget roughly a third of daily spend in cash in Indonesia and Vietnam, less in Thailand and Malaysia, almost none in Singapore.
Will my Indian card get declined abroad?
Occasionally, especially on foreign transport and ticketing sites. Carry a second card from a different bank and keep your bank's international helpline saved offline.
What about eSIMs and roaming charges?
Different question, same category of avoidable cost. Our guide to eSIM, cash and currency tips for Vietnam covers the connectivity side.
Fees and corridors change frequently. Markup percentages, forex card schedules, zero-markup card terms and UPI country coverage were all verified against public sources in August 2026 and are exactly the kind of thing that moves. Check your own card's current schedule before you rely on a number here.
Zippy Trips builds budget-aware itineraries with per-day cost estimates in your home currency, so you know what you are actually committing to. Try it at zippytrips.in.