bkkandrew

Bkkandy - hardly mate, my advice is as good as any here I'm afraid. Forex is pure speculative in nature, if you look at long term trends then you would know this might very well be a short term downward trend. Baht by all accounts is weak and logic says it should falter at the end of the day. Will it? Your guess is as good as mine, since its seems to be relatively immune to all external factors.

How did I guess that you would shorten my name to Andy?

On a more serious note, you are simply being too simplistic. De facto pegging to USD with the shortsightedness of the BoT means that they are hidebound to the failures of the USD and the Fed regime in charge of the present debacle. I recall noting posts by you of impending crash of oil price to $25PB, USD at 50 to THB (and beyond) and all manner of nonsense without any economic justification behind your assertions.

I suggest that you constrain yourself to posting on topics you have knowledge on, rather than throwing in one-line 'say the first thing that comes into your head', dressed up as pears of wisdom. Some of us (myself included) deal with Forex as part of our job/business and comment thus ...

Rout continues...

USD down with the following:

THB - .34% to 34.97

GBP - .36% - now $1.982 to the pound!

EUR - .6%

When will BOT realise that they are not at the centre of the Universe??

Actually reverse will occur baht is going to tank, just a matter of time.

interesting, though what do you base this assumption on?

Well instability of govt for starters, knee jerk reactions, and no sound economic reason speculators are pooring heaps of dosh into bht.

Seems to me that this would then create optimal short selling for the major speculators.

"pooring heaps of dosh into bht" [sic]

I think that anyone taking advice based on your economic assessments is on a sticky wicket...

THB will depriciate for reasons that are not immediately apparent to you (aka - beyond you ken), but will largely be offset by the ongoing decline of the USD. Pegging to the USD seems to be the blinkered aim of BoT, ignoring the appriciating YEN, GBP and EURO.

UPDATE... with as the little girl in the movie Poltergeist says, "they're baaaack"

The little girl is screaming even louder now... And she's making progress. From "rumors", then "political officials". Now she impersonates a dedicated investigation committee.

I'm wondering if the journalist of Bangkok Post who was fired (for spreading "rumors") will ever receive some excuses...

Runway cracks widen at Suvarnabhumi

Cracks in the runways at Suvarnabhumi Airport runways have expanded and may affect passenger safety, according to the head of a panel looking into the construction of the multibillion-baht facility.

"The cracks in the runway and taxiways are truly an urgent matter that could become cri-tical, particularly to the safety of passengers, if nothing is solved," said Prapan Koonmee, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's Suvarnabhumi Airport subcommittee.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/01/22...es_30024747.php

And...

Is it just me, or does it seem that an airport that cannot operate its runways correctly is sort of "missing the main event?"

Well I say that they should dig a might hole in the middle of the runway and place the mighty HMS Chakri Naruebet into the hole and require all flights to land with the aid of a tail hook. That way the Thai Air Force generals and the Thai Navy Admirals can both share in the profits of an airport built in the middle of a swamp.

Don't normally agree with you, but that is sooooo the best post you have written!

TWO international magazines.

This is what the Nation had to say about those articles.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/pag...amp;id=30024314

It was three: Newsweek, the Economist and the Asian Wall Street Journal, in addition to many national newspapers of different countries.

But of course - the internationally for its journalistic brilliance and scientific accuracy reknown newspaper "The Nation", of Bangkok/Thailand, being the center of the universe, has managed to wipe out those insignificant magazines.

No, actually, it is really really sad. I wish it would just be a joking matter.

A quote from the Nation:

Despite Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's series of explanations at many venues, the philosophy has failed to sink in.

Is the problem maybe not with the audience, but with the lack of a logical explanation? We may be Farang, but we are not completely daft, and when explained in coherent way, we usually tend to understand.

No. I think that the problem is one of a communication issue.

It appears that, whilst trying to impress his international audiance, by speaking in an obscure Eastern European tongue, K. Surayud discovered that none of his audience actually understood his pronunuciation when talking bolleaxe...

AND THE CLASSIC RESULT IS THE THAI BAHT HAS GOT STRONGER

While I'm sure you are being sarcastic, the baht should have weakened upon this news of lower returns.

We live in an unpredicatble world.

Again, the mistake has been made by focus on the THB-USD rate. The dollar was down against everything today. Bit of a rout, average of 0.4%. Against all other cuntries, the THB fell, average of about 0.35%, as expeceted when factoring in an interest rate cut..

Tell the family you want to talk personally with the girl. Go to a private location then take her over your knee and spank her for a solid 3 minutes until her brown bottom is bright red. Send her out of the room then head to the local bar for a well deserved Singha. If the family asks for the 30,000 just keep saying mai kao jai and drinking that Singha.

You don't understand Thai people is one of the oldest scams out there. Really it's a lose lose situation for you, if you pay you will be hit up again and again, if you don't pay your wife will hold a grudge but at least you'll be 30k richer. If the girl is pretty you could consider paying the 30k as long as the girl promises to be your mia noi upon reaching 18 years of age but this doesn't exempt her from the spanking. After all aren't you paying some type of replacement dowry if so you deserve your just due. hel_l their the ones who want to do it the Thai way.

You know, you have hit on something here! Aside from the spanking fetish, if I was the OP, I would use this to his advantage, explaining that, as he was effectively paying the dowry, this entitled him to have a mia noi, or perhaps downgrade the wife and insert the new one as the mia luang. After all, it is part of Thai culture, promoted from the top, none other that K. Sonthi...

I think she would rapidly abandon stringent application of Thai culture to the situation at hand once this was argument was put forward as the solution!

I think that many here have missed the point. This step is a massive shift towards isolationism in the region. Can you imagine Blair calling in the French Ambassador if Maggie/Major hopped on the Eurostar and had a chat with Chiric after 1997?

Mature, stable countries do not act in this nonsensical way. I feel a call to ThaiGoon coming on to justify this insanity. If anyone can do it, he can!!

In some spheres of business I suppose that we would consider T&G as competitors, but I have to say that YGWYPF (you get what you pay for). It amazes me that people will invest millions of Baht into a company or property and then skimp on a few tens of thousands of Baht legal fees. Inevitably they end up with a cheaper but far poorer solution. I don't imagine that too many T&G clients (or our clients for that matter) are at all concerned about the terms of the new FBA. At the risk of repeating myself, set yourself up right in the first place and there's very little to have to worry about now. Do it on the cheap initially and you'd better jump now and jump fast or else something could just be coming along that's going to bite your backside.

Getting legal advice? Most local legal and accounting firms do not even know what the treaty is, or that it exists. So much for that route unless you can afford to retain Tilleke & Gibbins.

You are right on about Tilleke and Gibbins. Excellent firm but too expense for all but the most pressing problems.

For God's sake, business must be slack... You have ceaselessly advertised on this site with your worthless "posts" since New Year. Mods?? Can't you deal with this??

As seen on Wireless Road..

In my experience, it is the staff that do most of the shoplifting....

What's this bloke doing with the mangoes?.....that's what I demand to know!

I mean, with his background and everything.....

They are the next pornstars on the "sex with fruit" DVD...

You're quite right topfield. Quite right.

The excellent financial data you provide here is completely invaluable, or at least it would have been for someone making the transaction at the exact time you posted it.

Now, if you can ever find a way to let us know IN ADVANCE what the exchange rate fluctuations will be, that would be almost as useful as this thread.

ABSOLUTELY CORRECT ! Exchange rates indeed normally fluctuate, wildly in the case lately of the pound/baht rates and giving them on this website is usually pointless with a view to trading.

Having said that this is THE PRECISE REASON why the weekend rates were given. It's the ONLY time rates do not move and people can compare and know exactly what rate they will get.

I know, Bendix is an idiot, living in his own world of isolation from business.. For myself, I am weighing up doing a transfer from Barclays to Kasikorn as we speak.. (regrettably, I don't have a N/W account)...

Well, would you believe it?!? Courtesy of the Mail on Sunday:

The woman who was Tony and Cherie Blair's host for their controversial holiday in Florida is a former porn star, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Bit Of White Mischef

For anyone who dosnt know... the Mail on Sunday is better known as a local Brit Tory rag which is always on the lookout for a TiT bit of scandle to try any way it can to undermine opposition political party leaders.... ...a bit like the National Enquirer in the states........

Cherie Blair however is an old fashioned tub thumping Scouse Socialist (albiet a well paid one...and a Papist)and a scoop like this from the likes of the Mail will only give her a Laff rather than bother her .....in fact will only improve her Street cred.....

Met her a couple of times over the years and ....off a ducks back..... ...like the red wine she drinks....

So we can look forward to "Cherie Blair meets Rinrada" scandal in next week's edition?

Oh God, please make it stop.

We get the message topfield. N/W Debit Card = Good. Every other financial institution in the world = evil scheming bastards.

You know, you don't have to read it.. Just ignore posts that don't interest you. Its simple!

Spurs v The lot you can't understand that well, apart from the occasional 'away tha lads'...

Tottenham skipper Ledley King (foot) remains on the sidelines and Jermaine Jenas is 10 days away from returning.

Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon are in the squad but Mido (groin) is doubtful and Paul Stalteri (hip) is out.

Newcastle will have captain Scott Parker available after suspension and Emre (groin) could also return.

Nicky Butt (virus) is a doubt but keeper Steve Harper is set to be on the bench for the first time since undergoing hernia surgery.

Tottenham (from): Robinson. Cerny, Alnwick, Chimbonda, Lee, Davenport, Dawson, Gardner, Assou-Ekotto, Zokora, Davids, Tainio, Lennon, Keane, Berbatov, Defoe, Murphy, Ghaly, Malbranque, Huddlestone, Ziegler.

Newcastle (from): Given, Harper, Solano, Edgar, Taylor, Huntington, Parker, Butt, Emre, Milner, Pattison, Troisi, Gate, Martins, Dyer, Sibierski, Luque, Carroll, LuaLua.

Tottenham manager Martin Jol sees the next three weeks as a stern test of the strength of his squad - but knows it is the price to pay for success:

"The only thing I'm happy about is that we're playing all these games, because it means we are doing well and are in all the competitions.

"It's ideal because that's what we wanted at the start of the season."

BIG-MATCH FACTS:

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR against Newcastle pits a club just outside the top six against one just above the bottom six. It brings together two clubs held away from home by Championship clubs in the FA Cup last weekend, and who've both drawn their last two matches in League and Cup.

Spurs have picked up 78% of their League points at home. They've gained 18 more points at home than they have on the road - only Liverpool match that. The Londoners are hoping to register a ninth win of the season at White Hart Lane, two days before manager Martin Jol's 51st birthday.

Spurs are pursuing a fourth successive home Premiership win over Newcastle, but have lost their last two games against them - both by 3-1 margins at St James' Park.

NEWCASTLE UNITED have rallied under Glenn Roeder after an unimpressive opening to the season and are now on the same mark as they have been for each of the past two seasons - 26 points after 22 matches.

They travel to north London on a run of three successive away Premiership defeats, and as the most wasteful side in the division, having dropped 15 points from matches in which they were leading.

The Magpies have not won a match since beating Spurs 3-1 on the Saturday before Christmas on Tyneside. They are hoping to complete a third Premiership double over Spurs and the first since the 2002-03 season.

Off to Xtra Time in PP now to see the game..

Dwina Murphy-Gibb

uhmm.... exactly what kind of porno was she a star in???? :D

I just hope that time has been unkind on her...

Does anyone know David Waterfield in Chang Mai?

Wouldnt let me start a new topic so will post here and move if you want to mods.

Three killed in southern Thailand

Suspected Islamic militants have beheaded a Buddhist man and shot dead two others in southern Thailand.

A man and wife were found dead at the entrance of a rubber plantation in Yala province - the man had been shot and then decapitated, police said.

A handwritten note was found saying "We will kill all Thai Buddhists." Another man was shot dead in a separate attack.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6260245.stm

Goodness me, quite a threat!!

Can't quite see them making good on their promise though...

Well, would you believe it?!? Courtesy of the Mail on Sunday:

The woman who was Tony and Cherie Blair's host for their controversial holiday in Florida is a former porn star, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Dwina Murphy-Gibb appeared in several blue movies in the early Seventies. And she was expelled from a women's liberation group when they found out about her past.

Dwina and her husband, Bee Gee Robin Gibb, opened their £4 million waterfront home in Miami Beach to the Blairs over New Year, prompting another 'freebie' holiday row.

It also led to a series of revelations about Dwina's colourful past as a wild-living, bisexual Druid priestess.

But now her former fiance, David Waterfield, has disclosed her biggest secret in a further embarrassment for the Blairs.

"Dwina did porno before she knew me," said Mr Waterfield. "We are talking before videos. We are talking black and white movies."

The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that Dwina and Cherie have grown close over the past 12 months, sharing an interest in human rights.

Mr Waterfield, 63, a former porn baron who now lives in a remote bamboo hut near Chiang Mai in northern Thailand with his pregnant Thai fiancee, said he was 'amazed' someone with Dwina's background was allowed into Downing Street.

"There must surely be some checking device. They should have known her background."

Recalling their two-year romance, he said Dwina was fascinated by tarot cards, spiritualism and 'witchery' which he said was nurtured by bohemian friends with an interest in the occult.

He described his former lover as 'honourable and honest' and said: "If she is a friend of Cherie Blair, then Cherie has got a good friend."

Waterfield - then a wealthy 29-year-old 'wheeler dealer' - met Dwina when she was a 20-year-old art college student in London in 1972.

"In my game, there are a lot of women around. But she was different. She was lovely with a big smile and a no-nonsense attitude. She wasn't a greedy or avaricious person," he said.

"I remember I had just bought a yellow E-type Jag - the first V12 model. It cost me £3,400 and at the time it was the only thing in my life I'd ever wanted.

"When I met Dwina, I'd never taken a girl out in it before. I thought, "She's going to love this."

"I told her I had my car parked round the corner and she turned the corner and said, "Is that your car?" I said, "Yes." And she said, "I'm not getting in that."

"I was gutted. I said, "You're joking" but she refused to get in. It turned out she'd been in a sports car with another guy the week before, and it went too fast and they had an accident.

"She got in eventually. But that's the kind of person she was. Everyone likes money to a degree but she's not a greedy person. She's a kind person, a very generous person.

"She would do all she could to help anybody. She helped a poor disabled girl. She bought her a wheelchair. Anyone will tell you she is just a kind person."

Their unconventional relationship involved Waterfield having to accept bisexual Dwina's female lovers.

"What she did with women had nothing to do with me - she made that very plain to me," he said. "But I learnt a lot about it [lesbianism] from her, luckily I'm not afflicted with jealousy."

Throughout their time together, Waterfield said Dwina had an uncanny ability to network with the rich and famous.

"She meets everyone - just by chance. Everywhere she goes, she is one of those people who attracts famous people," he said.

"She even bumped into Princess Anne when she was getting engaged.

"It doesn't surprise me she's friends with the Blairs. Wherever she goes, she meets actors and famous people. It's just the way she is. She doesn't go looking for it. She bumps into people.

"When I was with her, every day she met and made friends with someone famous. One day it would be Warren Mitchell. Another day it was Patrick Mower. I never met anyone.

"I don't know what her secret is. She's from Ireland and she's just gifted that way. She is very open."

During their two years together, Waterfield said, her interest in the occult grew.

"At first she wasn't that interested at all but a little bit later, she got very much into that kind of thing - witchery and all of that, and spiritualism too.

"Not superstitions but things to do with bringing good luck. She's very much into tarot cards and things like that. She was very, very knowledgeable about that kind of thing."

Dwina remained a close friend of Waterfield after their split and he recalled a meeting with her shortly before learning of her romance with Robin Gibb.

"She was sat down with me one day - I don't know if she knew Robin or not at the time - and she was really skint," he said.

"She was playing with her tarot cards and her witchery and all that and she told me: "I think I've got to marry a millionaire."

And the next minute - boom - she's married Robin Gibb. Dwina believes very strongly in karma. She believes what you do will come back."

She was also passionate about feminism and vegetarianism, Waterfield said. "Dwina convinced me and I became a vegan - two years of bread, potato and cabbage," he said.

Waterfield met Dwina's parents when they visited from Ireland for her 21st birthday.

"They were very nice people - very ordinary," he said. "They didn't know what I was doing for a living. I don't think the subject was raised."

The porn dealer's seedy dealings surfaced spectacularly in 1975, however, as his relationship with Dwina was fading, when he was jailed for three years for importing porn films into Britain.

"Dwina stood by me as best she could, the poor girl," he recalled. "What did she know? She was a young girl from Ireland."

Dwina apparently saw no conflict between her ideas on feminism and Waterfield's career as a pornographer, which he insisted was "more about fighting censorship than making money".

Although their relationship faded, Dwina and Waterfield stayed in touch.

Still without a job or anyone to support her financially, she worked for his new business producing bean bags and cushions after his release from prison.

"Dwina worked on a sewing machine for a year or two years,' Waterfield said. "She was a very good worker - neat too. She made loads of bean bags and many people still sit on them."

Waterfield helped Dwina with a mortgage on a house when she met a new partner but has had no contact with her since shortly after the beginning of her relationship with Robin Gibb more than 20 years ago.

"I had a phone call from her soon after she met Robin. She told me she was going to get married, he said.

"I didn't even know who the Bee Gees were so I wasn't that impressed. I discovered them after that. Now I play their music every day."

But he has no regrets about his hermit lifestyle in Thailand, where he says he does nothing but grow mangoes.

"I'm an old man now,' he said. "This is what I want.

"Isn't this what everyone wants? This is a wonderful spot and we're very, very happy here."

Having sampled all three "vices" before the age of 14 (sex - 13; porn - 11; gambling - 7), I wonder what all the fuss is about? It has done no harm to me, having had a successful corporate career, ran businesses in 3 continents and have generally had a good life.

Perhaps they should be actually promoted?

If you bought more than 3 years ago and sold it last week, a 51% loss would still leave you with more than you started with as prices have doubled in that time.

Your point being.

Why not make a useful comment in regard to this.

My house cost 1.1 million in 2001. So divide this by 72 (months since I bought it) and what you have 15,277 baht. So I have lived in a 4 bedroom house with swimming pool on one rai of land for 15,277 baht per month.

Any renters should tot up what they have LOST in rent over the years and look back to when they first arrived here to see what they could have bought. Also you (renters) pay a fortune for electric as the landlords top up their profits by billing you extortionate amounts per unit for it. Its only 2.4 baht per unit, yet when you rent its usually 2 or 3 times that amount and often more! If you have been here more than 5 years you have lost a fortune continue to do so as you should be living rent free by now.

What I am pointing out to the told you so brigade is that I could lose the house outright and still have made a smarter move than them. This house would rent for at least 50k a month.

On top of this, we still own it and the worst that could happen is that I lose 51% of its current value. If my wife and company shareholders shafted me, I'd walk off with over 3 million baht! which is nearly 200% more money than I started with.

My thrust on these threads is against the type of poster who is posting through ignorance of others situations. The "trendy" opinion prevalent on here is that anybody that bought through any route is a mug that has lost everything and is crying into his beer contemplating going back to Enland skint with his tail between his legs.

You have overlooked the fact that the capital could have been used to generate similar returns without the risk. Example, I rent in LoS, but own 2 properties in UK. Have seen a 300000GBP increase in asset value in UK in 6-years and the rental income from UK exceeds my Thai rent by a factor of 12!!

Best of all, I do not have to study over the details of the latest crank "minister's" outpourings, where my assets are held, on a daily basis, to work out if I still own 100%, 49% or 0% of my assets...

The irony is that a greedy and foolish multimillionaire was the catalyst for this change.

Very much so.

One trend i do see though, that does concern me a bit is, that many people previously unpolitical are now moving into the opinion, given the worsening security situation and the not exactly competent performance of the junta, that it would be better to have Thaksin back.

Instead of being able to move on to a more true democracy, i fear that we will soon repeat the circle from having weak self serving coalition governments straight back to an authoritarian strongman like Thaksin (or, given Thaksin's age - he himself a few years down the line).

I believe that without the coup it would have only been a matter of time that Thaksin would have been elected out of office. Even before the coup TRT was severely weakened, with many of their key powers having left.

When i speak with the average joe about the bombings, almost all i spoke with have not blamed Thaksin for the bombings, but blamed the government for having allowed the security situation to deteriorate so badly. The are scared of the strange changes in the business laws, scared of the worsening economic situation, angry that the situation in the south is getting worse.

And that is what later on will be the deciding matter in elections - the perception of the people. Unless the government comes up with clear links and evidence to Thaksin or TRT, and convictions - their statements pointing at TRT (people in the "old regime" who "lost power") will backfire badly.

Fact is, that very little has been reached in the 4 months after the coup, other than mostly symbolic actions such as the revocation of Thaksin's diplomatic passport, and panels of inquiry without much real progress.

The junta has failed to show that they can govern the country, has failed to sway Thaksin supporters to understand the reasons for their coup and even support them.

That does not mean that at the present situation we will see hords of upcountry folks descending on Bangkok to demand a return of Thaksin, but it means that if he would ever stand for election again - people will remember that they have had it better under him than under his opponents.

The more incompetent decisions of the present government - the less people will care if Thaksin was corrupt, even if one day convicted. Simply because people had it better under him, felt safer, and were economically more secure. And that is the deciding factor in elections.

On your final point, it does seem that perhaps this has been considered by the CNS and may be a reason for planting the bombs (if it was them). If they have analysed their quandary they would be employing every trick in the book to avoid and delay elections that could bring back the prospect of Mr T, together, as surely as night follows day, with the prospect of their prosecution and encarceration...

Isn't this following allegations that Burmese were hired to conduct the BKK bombings?

Its when the Martians start issuing denials that I will take any notice

I hope they pull through with this. They should do the same for all the other debtors here. Why are those unfinished skyscrapers still around the city? The government should force the owners to complete them or sell them off. There should be more tax on the land so that the wealthy people here don't just sit on property. They should crack down on these bloodsuckers.

You mean that vampires own the vacant property? I think someone should let Wolfie know...