Isaan sailor

Now I know why the Baht has risen into the clouds…

OK, Thai planners, now that you’ve let the Baht swing up nearly 2% on the USD in the last 48 hours….could you please let the Baht swing down?

I got 33.795 on my USD two days ago. 33.39 at the moment. Mai dee.

Kinda glad my late mother-in-law decided to have six children—cause I made her youngest my Thai wife.

Plenty of babies in my Isaan village—and I had nothing to do with it.

Rouble up—Dollar down. Sure looks like manipulation. I wonder if China has anything to say about this…

Well, the Baht didn’t listen. Yesterday it rose 29 Satang (nearly 1%) on the USD. And Euro and Pound fell in sympathy, although not as much.

Just to weigh in…inflation in USA now at a 40-year high. The administration has foolishly declared war on the oil industry. And we have open borders for everyone except the Cubans (who don’t tend to vote Democrat).

Owners of high end cars never take out loans. Same for owners of low end used cars.

And guess who was Vice President during the Obama administration? And guess what deals his prodigal son made with China?

So let’s get on with it. Why wait?

Almost 22.000 ft decent in 72 seconds. And a witness (unverified) saw a plane heading nose down. Doesn’t look like a mid-air breakup.

Vlad should send a military transport to pick them up and return them. After all, he’s one of the wealthiest in Russia, plus he controls the military.

Can’t draw any conclusions about this plane until all the evidence comes in. Could be a pilot problem—no one knows yet.

Another export opined that sometimes data gets skewed, and the leveling off and climbing 1200 feet could be false.

I still prefer to fly Boeing planes. Airbus has had its share of issues and tragedies.

NTSB says all options on the table. Good to do safety checks. Very unusual for a 737-800 to go nose down nearly vertical from cruising altitude. Any pilot can force a nosedive. RIP to passengers and crew.

I think part of the reason Russians aren’t coming—guilt, and the feeling they may not get a warm welcome in Thailand and RoW. Sure Ukraine is not their fault per se, but for 22 years they’ve watched Vlad doing his thing—while they sat passively by.

From my experience with Wise, they charge about 1% or just a bit more on transfers. Of course, the higher the amount, the lower the fees. Yesterday, things didn’t go so well for me at Wise. I ordered Baht when the USD rate hit 33.68. It choked and locked up on me. Now Wise wants to continue the sale—at a lower rate, USD @ 33.54. I cancelled my order, on principle.

One can only hope. That didn’t happen yesterday, as the Baht sailed north.

The lowered insured cash amounts can help in unforeseen ways. When family members ask for loans or handouts, my wife explains to them I must keep Baht in bank at all times now for my visa requirement.

Last year, banks lowered insurance guaranties to one million Baht per individual, per institution. This doesn’t give one a sense of confidence in the system.

Looks like world’s #2 economy (and neighbor of Thailand) is helping the Ruble recover. After all, Xi and Vlad best buds…

For Russians in Russia, it’s 1984 (the George Orwell novel). No open media, all news controlled by the benevolent government. “Ignorance is bliss!”

TAT should ask the bargirls who they’d prefer to see coming…