How to get same-day emergency money in Thailand?

Everex app, download it. you can fund your wallet with paypal, bank or crypto.

you will need ID hopefully before you lose that as well.

saved my ass, will save others im sure.

best of all, you can cash out at an atm with no bank card or ID. As long as you already did kyc.

• Paypal still takes 7 days to withdraw cash to a Thai bank. (But you can spend it with another paypal merchant immediately).

• Western Union / MoneyGram are your best bets if you want immediacy.

• Bank Wire transfer or using certain licensed money exchangers can also be a few hours if you meet their cutoff times.

• A friend who can spot you the funds locally within Thailand is in a better position. you can send funds via Thai post or even via local bank deposit and it is available immediately. There are cash deposit machines (CDM) at most bank branches and inside some shopping malls. Even now some atm machines double as a CDM...which can be kind of annoying as it is one more thing to break and can make the line longer if there is only 1 atm in that immediate area.

It is strange that the hostel doesn't want to be paid by paypal. It costs, but it is rather simple to send money to anybody with an email address. Since he is willing to pay the additional charge he mayb should point the hostel to this explanation on paypals website. and emphasize that this will be the only way he can pay. If they really stands on their position he could say that he will write an online evaluation on platforms like tripadvisor, booking.com or zoover indicating their unwillingness to assist in a crisis situation. That has worked for me quite well in the past. They will not be friendly in solving the issue, but who cares. If that really does not solve the issue, he could always send money through paypal to fellow travelers willing to help.