Isaan sailor

Interesting conversation with wife’s son-in-law, who has a small business installing auto accessories. His business has taken a huge hit this year—customers have little spending money. High Baht hurts more than foreigners.

Admittedly the USD has weakness, due to reduced interest rates, the perceived loss of Fed independence, and dovish comments from some of the newest Fed governors. Yet the Vietnamese Dong remains near a multi year low vs. the USD. Watch out, Thailand, someone’s eating your lunch.

They’ll probably repeg the fallen Dollar at 25. Doubt many Americans would visit, and even fewer would continue to live here. The higher the Baht—the less we shall spend. Of course BoT could devalue the Baht…

Of course, most of us want the Baht to fall. But then I started thinking…what if the Baht rose to parity with the U.S. Dollar? I could sell my Baht and return to America as a millionaire…

What about the higher cost of Mac updates? A friend who runs the IT dept at a small company advised me to stay with Windows for this reason.

Or, they can do nothing—and let Vietnam steal tourists and industries.

We make long treks to the Gulf during the high season. We see many black smoke emitting vehicles —mostly pickup trucks. And 9 out of 10 violators are older Isuzus. Some people claim the smoke is due to a special performance chip they install. But do farmers buy performance chips for their Isuzus?

Ten million let in during the last administration. Much easier to open the borders. Going to take a huge effort to find and deport those ten million.

If I go back, everything gets smaller—house, cars, boat and bank account.

Thanks for posting. I understand Vietnam controls its currency differently, but the difference in currencies is stark. Lets hope the BoT gets the message and takes action before the economy collapses.

Devalue the mighty Baht, and you can compete with Vietnam—in manufacturing, exporting and tourism.

Dangerous drug. Lost a good friend to overdose in Kentucky.

Yes, got same Wise message last month. Problem: Baht rose dramatically right after my order expired. Yet my U.S. bank confirmed Wise took the money right after I placed the order. I notified Wise. They apologized and the transfer finally processed at my original rate.

If I didn’t have so much invested here (including a Thai wife) I too would spend more time in Vietnam. Thai Baht sky high, while Vietnamese Dong stays low. BoT should do more to tamp down Baht.

We wouldn’t complain if they devalued the Baht. Sure seems that’s what Vietnam effectively is doing with the Dong.

Tough decision: Come to Thailand, where your money buys less every week, or go to Vietnam where your money buys more every week.

In the last six months, the USD has LOST 5.2% to the Mighty Baht. Yet the USD has GAINED 3.1% on the Vietnamese Dong. Make it make sense.

A rising Baht—just what the economy doesn’t need. Thailand’s losses become Vietnam’s gains.

Vietnam is Thailand’s competition. Compare pricing.

Obama deported 3X as many illegals this far into his administration. Why such a big deal now?

Well, the Vietnamese Dong hit a multi-year low.on the USD this week. That should get Bank of Thailand’s attention. Next time family or friend visit from USA, we’ll probably go to Vietnam.

I love my new Ford Ranger—my 3rd one (last two here in Thailand. Rides great, great fuel economy and lots of power too. Made in Rayong.

I got my last chance SSA letter late October. It gave me 30 days to respond—but typically the letter arrived three weeks late. I also recommend you put tracking on your response correspondence.

I’ll never forget my SSA letter last year. We had heavy rain the week before and the day it arrived. The letter got wet in the mailbox. The barcode got smudged. So I called SS to report it. The agent assured me it was OK, just fill it in, include a note about the bar code smudge. So I sent it back. Three month later, I got a “last chance letter”, since I failed to return the first one. Always check your bar code for smudges.

So now I can buy that tb1000 bottle of California Cabernet for the reduced tariff price of tb 600? In fact, more like a case Cabernet for $609.