Robert24

Sounds like a fictional story indeed. if some of this is true, very simple, just go to the police. If they not take action, take a lawyer. Even in Thailand such criminal behavior is not tolerated.

Surprising to whom?

To most economists who were surveyed about their view of an interest rate cut by the BoT on their April meeting.

Not wishing to sound Islamaphobic but both Malaysia and the Philipines are both quite hard core Isalmic states are they not ? Would you be very comfortable having to observe all their laws ? Limited booze, no bacon butties etc, and now some hardliners are slating smoking as being un-Islamic 'cos it harms the body.

Last time I was in the Philippines, I thought they were mainly Christian, actually catholic if I'm not wrong.....

Read an article recently with info from the Aggriculture. Dept. that Thais were eating more meat, mostly chiken and pork and that exports of such are increasing so farmers should be growning more corn to fill future demands.... expect the situation to get worse.

I think the situation will remain unchanged. Farmers all over Thailand do the same. The haze in the North is a weather related problem, ie the smoke from burning doesn't move because there is no wind, rain etc. Farmers burn both rice and corn fields. Next time this will become a topic in the press is in March 2016. Until then nothing will change. Every year same same.

My comment was informed by the Agg. dept. stating that 4million tons of corn were produced for animal feed but the livestock growers require more than 5 million tons so they should grow more (numbers are from memory so maybe not accurate) this will mean more forest encroachment and hillside farming leading to more smoke and errosion, run off and flooding. Before the corn craze, most burning was rice and some shroomers now the environmental disaster area known as Thailand just keeps rolling along.

I guess maybe speak to some farmers. Corn is a good alternative to rice because the price of rice is very low. You can mix pig food with both rice and/or corn. People use corn because it gives better returns in the current market.

Thailand is not an environmental disaster area, nor is the North of Thailand where the annual haze issue comes up. Like I mentioned before, the haze is really an issue maybe during 2 weeks usually at the end of March because of the weather. Compared to many other countries, life is pretty healthy here. If you want to avoid the 2weeks haze period, take a holiday somewhere else in Thailand for the time it is an issue. If you don't want that, maybe move to another part of Thailand.

Agree with comments. Perfectly normal to pay 450k in cash. Just make sure you pay it at the land office once ownership of the chanote is transferred.

Well, I didn't major in economics and there are a lot of you smarter than me.

But, to say that devaluation of the baht won't help an agricultural country is something I can't understand.

It would help tourism also IMO.

Maybe someone can explain it for me: How a lower baht would hurt Thailand economically.

It won't hurt Thailand if the baht weakens say up 10-15% because about 60-70% of GDP is related to exports. However if there is a big devaluation it will hurt a lot, ie it will increase inflation a lot and it may destabilize companies who have borrowed a lot in foreign currencies.

But my view is that the baht stays relatively stable. Real interest rates are positive which is quite attractive for foreign investors compared to many other currencies where real interest rates are negative.

The baht did not react after last month' rate cut and neither will it this time around.

Reality bites, hey, General ?

Well it weakened quite a bit......have a look at the currency rates

Read an article recently with info from the Aggriculture. Dept. that Thais were eating more meat, mostly chiken and pork and that exports of such are increasing so farmers should be growning more corn to fill future demands.... expect the situation to get worse.

I think the situation will remain unchanged. Farmers all over Thailand do the same. The haze in the North is a weather related problem, ie the smoke from burning doesn't move because there is no wind, rain etc. Farmers burn both rice and corn fields. Next time this will become a topic in the press is in March 2016. Until then nothing will change. Every year same same.

I guess it's a combination of regulation (ring fencing of retail business) that will drive up cost significantly as well as high tax levels. They probably can save a lot from moving their HQ to Hong Kong. And strategically probably a smart move as well given that most growth for HSBC will come from Asia. Stan Chartered is in a similar situation.

maybe you start importing Nespresso machines and capsules? Or get in touch with them and you can buy the franchise for Thailand?

I also have a Nespresso machine and get my supplies from Hong Kong or Switzerland whenever I travel there. But agree it would be easier to buy it here.

Robert: have a look at http://nespresso-thailand.com/

Yes. Daylight robbery. I will continue to buy them in HKg or CH.

I thought the Op talks about the bar/restaurant in town

maybe you start importing Nespresso machines and capsules? Or get in touch with them and you can buy the franchise for Thailand?

I also have a Nespresso machine and get my supplies from Hong Kong or Switzerland whenever I travel there. But agree it would be easier to buy it here.

The Thai Govt has supplied Mulching Machines

But is hard for the land users to change their ways

Until they do Nothing Will Change

We can always wait and hope things will change

They have not supplied those machines. You have to rent them which is expensive why people burn their fields. It's the same with grass growing on your rice field. It's cheaper to cut and burn it than use pesticide.

It's a financial issue. Very simple.

OK.

Then we all die because of a financial matter?

Makes sense to me...

Some things you can't change here. You better adapt.

The Thai Govt has supplied Mulching Machines

But is hard for the land users to change their ways

Until they do Nothing Will Change

We can always wait and hope things will change

They have not supplied those machines. You have to rent them which is expensive why people burn their fields. It's the same with grass growing on your rice field. It's cheaper to cut and burn it than use pesticide.

It's a financial issue. Very simple.

recommend to fly. Safer, quicker and about the same price or a little bit more expensive. Flew with Nokair to KK and back for 660 one way earlier this month.

it's not going to change. The best is to leave and stay somewhere else until the haze has cleared. Usually only 1-2 weeks really bad.

I understand that there are many that do this but they are typically employed by their companies from their home countries and live in thailand as expats.

The biggest hurdle is obviously the language well has anyone found work in thailand that wasn't an expat?

Probably quite hard to search a job on the local market as a foreigner unless you have some unique skills that are in demand. If you don't have that you are far better of in Singapore or Hong Kong or you open your own business here.

What is your background?

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@tigermonkey: as umbanda pointed out, they can go to the temple and will get shelter and food.They can also become a monk.

There could be some slowdown due to high level of debt "Debt levels in several Asian countries, such as China, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea, are higher than they were before the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s."

http://www.wsj.com/articles/debt-piles-up-in-asia-threatening-growth-1429645244

Agree with this that the cumulative debt level is higher than pre the Asian crisis. But the structure of the debt is very different. Before the Asian crisis the issue was mainly Government and corporate debt that was $ denominated. So obviously when they had to devalue the baht, corporates lost at a lot money and the government needed an IMF bailout. Now the situation is somewhat different that government debt is relatively low and mainly baht denominated. And the BoT has a lot of foreign currency reserves to manage big currency movements. The issue now is household and corporate debt which is at a very high level.

Try http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessecolombo/2013/11/04/thailands-bubble-economy-is-heading-for-a-1997-style-crash/

He was right before the last crash and says some sensible things

This guy predicts crashes all the time all over the world whether it is Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe, the U.S., China and also any asset class whether real estate, equities, bonds etc. So if you do this over many many years, I guess one day you will be right on something. However if you would follow his views as an investment guideline, you would have lost all your money already.

I can also say one day there will be a crash in the property market in Thailand and I'm sure I'll be proven right at some point over the next 25 years.

as long as it is not sold, it is not a loss booked for the bank

so no problem to keep it that way, even if it takes 5 - 10 - 20 years

There is no free lunch. It is certainly a non-performing loan and a non-performing asset. That means that profit ratio is driven down. Now the question is whether the ratio of such non-performing assets is going up or down over a measurable period of time. Whatever the figures it is still a dead parrot. Having said that, the example of the abandoned structure on Pattaya Beach Road which later turned into the successfully sold Northshore Condo block is an example of a dead parrot being revitalised. Nonetheless there are plenty of dead parrots being built in secondary locations and keeping them live will be somewhat difficult.....

Accounting rules will force every bank to make write-offs or provisions already when the loan becomes non-performing way ahead of a repossession.

Agree with the op that property and land prices are expensive now compared to 5 or 10 years ago. But so they are in most countries whether it is Australia as you point out, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong etc. this doesn't mean though that prices can't go up more though. Real price comparisons between countries don't really lead to a meaningful conclusion.

If you are unsure about where the market is heading and you don't know the market well, maybe rent for a while before you buy. As people point out, rent is quite low and there is no harm to rent for 1-2 years before you buy.

IMHO - like China, the Thai banks are controlled/supported by the government. I doubt if the Thai banks would become insolvent because they are holding onto non-producing assets but I wouldn't invest in their common stock either.

Only the government owned or partially owned banks are controlled by the government, I.e. KTB, TMB, BAAC etc. privately owned banks like KBank etc are not controlled by the government. But obviously similar to other countries, they have a common regulator with the BoT.

In terms of insolvency you highlight. Banks in general can become insolvent if they have to absorb huge losses due to valuation adjustments of their assets (I.e. Real estate) In such a case , I would agree with you the BoT or Thai government would certainly inject capital/liquidity into any big bank in order to avoid a financial crisis.

Has nothing to do with the OP. The imported goods should have decreased in price because the purchase price has decreased, not because of other indirect factors.

Furthermore instead of having decreased in price because the purchase price dcreased, they have in fact increased the prices during the same period.

Says only you.

As others have mentioned, there is nothing written in stone that says when a company's costs decrease it will automatically reduce the price of something, particularly in a market that either lacks competition or where the price elasticity of demand is relatively inelastic (which is really what we're talking about here.) Instead the company will reap excess profit due to the reduction in costs.

Obviously, that's not what you want to hear so you continue to argue with just about everyone on the thread.

Did you notice that I said that the price not decreased, but instead they even increased the price while they already had an extra profit because of the lower exchange rate.

Nothing to do with economics, it's called pure greed.

it's not greed. It's commercial acumen. As a company you increase the price to maximise revenues. When revenues starts falling because people not buy anymore or buy with your competitor you stop increasing the price or lower it. It's basic economic behaviour. Nothing to do with moral or ethical values.