Money in south easy asia??

Can I get some tips off people for carrying money around south east asia.

I have ordered a credit card today and going to use this in credit to take money out of ATM's as this wont have the 3.5% charge that my bank of ireland laser card will have...
Is this a good option or would I just be better off using my laser card?? or travellers cheques??
Is it safe to use credit cards at ATM's in these countries, is there anything I should be vigilant about when using it out there??

ATMs are as safe as in Ireland. ie check for card readers, been watched etc. Not all ATMs will take all cards types etc. Laser card useless unless it is also a Plus or Cirus card. Travellers Cheques are a thing of the past, you will have trouble changing them and if you find a bank which will change them, be ripped off on the exchange rate.

Ye sorry my laser card has the maestro and cirrus logos on the back of it... so im better off just putting money on the credit card and using that then??

I've used my Laser card all over SE Asia no problem. I actually found bigger problems with credit cards. In Malaysia lots of places only took Mastercard and not Visa.

Agree with shesells, in Indonesia and Cambodia, they definitely work with one provider rather than the other in my experience. The last time I was out there, this time last year I had 4-5 currencies in the wallet. In Jakarta airport they do want the local currency, well for me they made a big deal of me only having US dollars there.
But we could learn a lot from them on wifi but that is a different story

If you have a credit card bring it and use it at ATMs

Traveller cheques are a good alternative if you have no credit card

By the way, a lot of tourists I have met in SE Asia bring US Dollars as they are under the impression that is better than the local currency; no need (you will probably get ripped off in the exchange rate anyway)

I had no problem using ATMs in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. Phillipines is a different story, very hard to get ATM access outside the main tourist haunts, but I'm asssuming thats not on your itenerary.

Never used travellers cheques, think they are as much hassle to get cashed as looking for an ATM is.

Very handy to have some US dollars stashed away in SE Asia though, especially in Cambodia, where it is used almost more than the local currency, and expected by tourists. The ATMs dispense it though, so shouldn't have too much trouble.

Most accommodation providers and restaurants don't take credit card, so you will need cash at all times.