SheungWan

"We have seen many protests and uprisings. They [the politicians] always make big promises with a straight face, grandiose pronouncements. And then? They come and go, but at the end of the day we are the ones who still have to suffer. And nothing really changes."

Sad, but true. Nothing really does change much here. When they actually want it to change, really change, they'll make it happen. Until then, they'll swap one set of thieves for another and the cycle will continue in the guise of "democracy" and "Thainess".

Real change will come to be when the social pyramid is flattened.

Land reform in the north-east where Thakisn has his political alliance with the north-eastern landowners might be a start. Thakin's own personal family pyramid conducted by de capo certainly no alternative.

I would think all investors should be worried, not just the Japanese. The protests are disruptive, but that is not really the main issue. The main issue is the apparent lack of rule of law and the possibility that an elected government can so easily be replaced by a mob, with the police and army literally standing back and offering zero resistance. If this happened then could this new form of government be trusted not to renege on previous agreements, or to not become even more xenophobic than currently, or to attack foreign investments such as property to appease popular sentiment, or just fail to protect foreign business interests? Who is to say what a mob would do in a position of power. So unlike previous instability in Thailand, this new phase threatens to usher in an era of much higher uncertainty and undermines any adherence to the principles of law and democracy that Thailand may previously have had.

Investment was neither shaken by the violence instigated by Thaksin in 2010 nor the flapping in 2013. Japanese investment more concerned with the shambolic response to the floods and infrastructure planning (lack of) to protect continuity of industrial production. Japanese investment might raise eyebrows at a government run from afar by a wanted criminal exacting a rental overhead and not averse to utilising mob rule through the reds, but their investment decisions have been made on a longer term basis and so far discounted both Malaysia and Vietnam as practical alternatives. Maybe they will switch but until they do it is mostly business as usual.

Yeah right. You know you wouldn't condone it if a Nation journalist, with their obvious anti-Thaksin bias, was attacked by reds and forced "off the case". But let's not go back into this again. Point is, is there another photojournalist covering this sort of clash in the early hours of the morning with chaos and violence going on all around? Nope. And that's the main reason I value Nick's work. He goes to places others don't (including Thai journalists).

Oh please, if Herr Nostitz had maintained any shred of journalistic integrity and not made rather indifferent claims in his articles, he wouldn't find himself so subject to ridicule!

He sold his soul, made his bed and all that..

Well, maybe he didn't and he truly believes what he writes is a true and honest account of what he experienced, but objective? Not in the slightest.

But along with Mr Head, his journalistic prowess will continue to be taken with a grain of salt in asserting their credibility, boy who cried wolf and all that...

Grain of salt is about right.

There are periods when the strength of the pound gives one the opportunity to take opportunities elsewhere, but experience points to these periods as windows of opportunity rather than permanent shifts. Cable feels that way, but GBPTHB not similarly at all.

was going to change 10m baht into dollars think my timing is not so good

Knowing that you might have changed the baht 3 months ago then yes, but if your forward projection is 1:35 then now would be a very good time to change. If you don't then you might be nursing further wounds 3 months hence.

Prior to the current demonstrations a deal had been made to allow the implementation of the amnesty bill and return of Thaksin.

However, given Thaksin's greedy propensity to mess things up, the bill only managed to be passed with strong-arm tactics and a 4am late night shenanigans. Weakness and dishonesty on full display. Thus was the opposition to Thaksin given the strength to organise and further stimulated by the Senate rejection. Yes, Thaksin would desperately like the measure, now on the back burner, to be slipped in some future another late night sitting, but now the establishment has sufficient justification to pull back and not sign off on any further machinations. For the moment Thaksin returning is off the agenda. Now if that isn't a victory I don't know what is.

Thanks for the replies so far. It seems that the general consensus is to sell ASAP and that is my gut feeling too.

But my home currency is US$ and I don't have much faith in that hanging in there for much longer.

All the holdings are with a reputable broker [Fidelity] and their [cash] money market pays next to nothing in interest, but is secure.

Assume that the THB is not too secure now and I have way too much invested here already.

I'm past my mid 60's and can live out my life, but would like to leave something for my Thai family.

What about gold [physical or futures or mining]??

And no resources here in LOS for US financial planning??

Gold has dropped near 30% this year. Do you wish to be glutton for punishment?

I did this myself yesterday, just walked into the bank with my passbook and new passport and told them I wish to update the information. End of story, no drama, no problem , no issue, done in 10 minutes.

From experience changing passport number with bank in HK, it takes some time for the data to be established across your bank identity so recommend keep note of old number and keep a copy of the old ID page until you know its done.

Carney says basically - Homeowners must find a way to pay their mortgages if interest rates rise because they will not be guaranteed a helping hand, the governor of the Bank of England has warned.

Maybe homeowners can ask their parents' advice as to how they coped in the '80s at up to 17%.

I recall having a mortgage at ~ 13% and I am here to tell the tale.

This ongoing dispute has little to do with politics this is very much a class struggle. It sticks in the craw of the so called Thai 'middle class' and the other 'privileged' classes in Thailand that the government has been formed following a democratic process that saw, yet again, the working class return the party of their choice

How can this be allowed to happen cry the minority? What right have our 'servants' to form a government. They should be cleaning our houses, washing our clothes, producing and preparing our food, driving our taxis and doing all the other menial jobs that an elite depend upon

What do these poorly educated people understand of World affairs?

i have spent a lot of time in the company of Bangkokian university students often in the company of my Isaan wife. Despite her being a well educated woman the students do not even acknowledge her presence much less bring her into the conversation and ask for her views

Thailand remains an 'upstairs and 'downstairs' society with the same social pyramid that infected Victorian society

It would be a disaster if the current government resigns. What message will that send out to the electorate? If you are unhappy with the democratically government cause a riot and all your demands will be met

Its always amusing to read someone playing the class struggle card complete with Thaksin as Che Guevara and the North Eastern landowners presumably as the Party Central Committee.

Precisely.

Those with exoerience covering upheavals in other countries would be hard pressed to think of an equallly moderate and even-handed response to such direct provocations and assaults from a mob which has the exoressed intent of overrhrowing a democratically elected government. Indeed, the police forces in most other countries would have dispatched this treasonous mob with extreme prejudice.

The would-be putschists and their leaders have drained whatever international goodwill might have been there when:

1. Their keader Suthep moved the goalposts when he said their goal was not the elimination of ammesty for Thaksin, but the elimination of the entire democratic system of government in Thailand , and replacing it with a model for a fascist state run by him and a few cronies.

2. Suthep and Abshit led a march on the American embassy to protest their support of the current democratically elected government - seemingly ignorant of the fact that the job of any embassy in the world is diplomacy, which means having as good relations with the host government as possible. Good relations does not mean unqualified support for the policies of that government - it just means good relations. In addition, American law prohibits America from providing military assistance to countries which had had a coup d'efat, which is why the Americans had such problems with the current situation in Egyot. The sheer arrogance of Abshit and Suthep to lecture the bemused American embassy representives on "being Thai" boggles rhe mind.

3. Pride goeth before the fall, as they say, and the sheer,hubris of Suthep 's refusal ro negotiate with the democratically elected PM in a meeting graciously arranged by top military commanders was breath taking. It was also an insult to rhe military commanders who had arranged the meeting to try to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict. Frankly, Mr. Suthep suffers from serious delusions of grandeur, and displays symptoms of some bizarre Thai version of a Napoleonic complex, and even some of his suoporters seem to realize rhis and have been distancing themselves from his ravings.

Bottom line: rathef than deal with the very real issue of government corruption through the parliament, the undemocratic opposition has severely damaged the image of Thailand, and cost the country millions and millons of dollars in foreign business investment. In a few regards, this movement has a lot in commn with the American Tea Party, whose hatred of President Obama is so strong they are ready to destroy the US to make their point. The Tea Party has enjoyed generous financing from the right-wing Koch brothers, and it will be very interesting to learn who had been financing the Suthepists, since someone has obviously been providing a lot of financial support.

Like the poster, i salute the PM and the Thai authorites for their very humane response to extreme provocations, and I pray that there will not be further loss of life. If there is, however, the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the demagogue Mr. Suthep, and his backers. They have much to answer for.

The moment one of those protesters die at the hands of the police Yingluck is dead meat as PM. As will be the murder charges against Suthep and Abhisit. Silly little girl should have stayed at home playing with her Barbie Dolls instead of puppertering for her convicted criminal brother.

On the contrary, she is doing a remarkable good job under very difficult circumstances. She has gone up in my estimation even though I don't care for many of her policies. If one of these thugs gets killed, then sorry...but it could have been avoided very easily .

I believe it has been three students who have been killed so far, probably by supporters of your friends, but do carry on spinning. Tricky work.