tomtom47

There's a small river north of Khon Kaen near the Phoenix Paper and Plywood factory. I've caught several fair sized pla chon there using my trusted mepps.

I love fishing for pla chon. I have a fair amount of luck using Mepps spinners, usually a size 1. I fish in smaller ponds or near the shore where it's grassy in larger ponds. They put up a real good fight if they latch onto the Mepps.

Not 100%, but I am 99% certain it is Thaksin paid Red-shirts thugs in action again.

Suthep's protesters are non-violent and never have weapons.

Are you f***ing kidding me?? But then, you must be talking tongue in cheek, because if not, you are as dumb as they come. No matter what happens bad in this country, or this world, or even this universe, it has to be Thaksin's fault, right. They would probably blame him if he shot himself in the head, saying that he was aiming at someone else but missed. Please tell you were kidding.

Today there are many blind fools who are demanding their right to vote

But what are they voting for ?

How can you vote for democracy. When their is only 1 party to vote for

Todays vote is for democracy or dictatorship

If today you vote in a government that has no opposition only one party in power it is a dictatorship not democracy

The protestors have learnt

you can good some Thais all of the time

But you can no fool all Thais all of the time

Let me get this straight. So the blind fools, as you call them, are at fault because there is only one party to chose from? Wasn't there a major party (Dems for instance) who in their infinite wisdom decided not to field any candidates?. If there is a blind person out there, I think it might be you.

Definitely wait.

The primary driver of GBP/THB (and USD/THB) is institutional money flow out of Thailand (and all MICs) to more vibrant asset classes back home, not protests. That said, even just your 2 mo's, definitely wait. The protests will work in your favor and give you a baht more or so.

For those with a view longer than 2 months and asking the same question, however, the protests - even a c d'etat - mean nothing. It's the institutionals. Institutional money has been shifting out of LOS for months now. Those with good memories will note that we were at 48/49 for several years, since 2010 or so. But the more useful data point for this question right now is not the last few years average, but the beginning of 2013. Remember? We were at 45. 45 to 54 in just 12 months. That's a solid gain in a short time. We can be confident it will get back to 64 - and I believe 70+ - by 2016.

Keep in mind, as well, the Thai government was not happy for the Baht's strengthening in the first place, and for a while, while BOT still had the funds, was spending heavily to prevent any more strengthening. That strengthening was caused by UK/EU/US institutionals shifting their money temporarily out of lacklustre returns back home while banks worked through their NPLs. For the UK and US, at least, that's coming to an end. In this instance, Ireland's a good leading indicator. The Thai govt will be very happy to see USD 35, GBP 58 by end 2014.

On top of all that, needless to say, Thailand's public finances and sovereign balance sheet are in a far less attractive position than they were in 2008 or so when all the strengthening started. Thai banks have curtailed their lending. Thai corporates are investing outside the country.

If you are able to wait, wait as long as you can. If you have a chunk in Thailand, the time to move it back home was last year - probably not worth the hassle and transfer fees now. But some might think about converting a chunk of their THB savings into USD/GPB and holding it here, or arranging to delay your pension transfers if you can. This is not the time for gold, either, imo.

Thanks for the great analysis of where you think the baht will go from here. From a US dollar perspective, I also see the baht continue to weaken against the US dollar. The political turmoil has had an impact but not to the extent of the Fed's plan to ease it's Quantitative Easing plan. If we see a major political shift (ie, Coup) we will see a slight bump, but when the full impact of QE takes effect, that's when you'll see the baht bottoming out around 35 to 36.

1. Just to paraphrase the above post. I think that the Thai people, even those who hate Thaksin, need to forget him and move on the the betterment of the country. Their intense hatred for this man has blinded them to what Suthep and Co. have been doing to this country. In the eyes of the outside world, it's pretty clear that Suthep's goal is the elimination of the Shinawatra name and memory and he is willing to accomplish this no matter what the cost - even to the point where the country is torn apart and ruined. It's time for many in this country (and also many on TVF) to finally open their eyes before it's too late.

QuoteThe current protests were sparked in November, when the government clumsily tried to push through an amnesty bill that would have pardoned thousands of people convicted of politically related crimes between 2003 and last year.

This would have paved the way for the return of Thaksin, a deeply polarizing figure who is loved by his supporters and loathed by his enemies.

 

 

Yeap, above was definitely the fuse for the latest political bomb.   Me thinks the Thai people, even those who like Thaksin, need to forget him and move on for the betterment of the country.

 

 

When are the so-called "millions of people" out there (in addition to many of you posters) going to come to the realization that Suthep is a megalomanical nutcase. Everything he's done recently can be compared to the jerks in history thoughout the world who have tried to overturn a duly elected government. As most civilized societies and countries do in this modern age, if you're not satisfied with the current government, come up with an electable slate of nominees when election time comes around. You can't just say, "I don't like this group so I'll just lead a movement to get rid of this one, and if I don't like the next one, I'll get rid of that one too".

One of the worst has to be Hwy 33 going through Prachinburi. Hwy 33 goes from Saraburi all the way to the Cambodian border at Aranyaphatet. For most of the way, it's a pretty decent highway, especially when you consider that it is also considered Asia Highway 1. It's a nice multi laned divided highway until you get to Prachinburi. Here it becomes a very busy, narrow, two-laned highway with a lot of curves and plenty of inpatient truck drivers. It has been said that the reason it remains two laned is because someone of great importance liked the trees and didn't want them remove. I often wonder how many have died on this stretch of road because of someone's love for trees..