nigelforbes

I don't understand what you wrote or intended in the second part of that. The Thai exporter markets their product in Baht but the transaction is settled in USD. As you say, if the ex. rate is one way, one person wins, if it's the other they lose, there is therefore an optimum rate where both parties are happy, that was the point I tried to make in my original post. The only thing that's missing is the fact that the Thai exporter has to sell the USD he has earned from the sale, back to the BOT where the currency is added to foreign currency reserves. The rate on that exchange has to be favorable to the exporter. On the other side of the coin, imports are also paid for in USD, oil is a prime example. USD at 38 makes oil very very expensive, at 29 it's dirt cheap but that rate kills Thai exporters. Once again, there's an optimal exchange rate that satisfies all parties.

Export bills are settled in USD hence the exchange rate USD/THB is vitally important to exporters. Too strong and nobody wants to buy, too weak and exporters can't make profit.

I give up, which is it!

There is an optimal desirable level of USD/THB from almost everyone's perspective , 32 keep exporters happy, makes exports attractive and prices imports sensibly. Unfortunately, expats don't see things the same way.

And nobody anywhere sees any good news on that horizon.

Not much really, inflation is a different slice of the economic picture.

That does it, I'm going to tell them my name is Mike, not Hugh and get into a different queue, thanks for the heads up.

It's been vaccinated and wears a mask you see, it's perfectly safe.

Try looking at FSSA Asia Focus Either Sedol BWNGXJ8 or ISIN GB00BWNGXJ86

Now that is funny. I used to work in banking in Hong Kong for many years, I can assure you that today there is very very little circumvention there of mainland currency restrictions, the national security law put an end to that. The flow of money is actually the otherway, from HK into China on a speculative basis. Both China and HK monetray authorities are trying to stop the practise. "To restrict the flow of funds, the People's Bank of China, the mainland's central bank, set down rules that are overseen by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Banks in Hong Kong doing yuan business cannot exchange more than 20,000 yuan a day for individuals. And individual bank account holders in Hong Kong are limited to wiring 80,000 yuan a day to accounts on the mainland held in the same name". https://www.scmp.com/article/995448/hot-moneys-growing-underground-flow As for nobody wanting the Yuan, well, many countries in the region now have currency swaps in place to settle export trading bills, Thailand is one, THB/YUAN. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-china-wealth-idUSKBN2340QC

What, that the Chinese heritage hasn't been bred out of him after several generations? Gimme a break!

Ridiculous statement, just an excuse for blatant China bashing, whatever happened to plain old Thai bashing!

So you mean that Anutin is a Thai who has Chinese ancestors in his family tree? I can agree with that.

Anutin is NOT Chinese, he is Thai. Only Thai's are allowed to become government ministers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anutin_Charnvirakul

The insurance only applies to those people with onwards travel to countries that require a negative test for entry, eg China.

So very excitable, calm down! I think the approach is quite clever. The requirement for Chinese tourists to have medical insurance is based solely on the entry requirements of China to show a negative test result. If of course the test is positive, they must be treated hence the need for insurance to ensure their treatment is paid for. These are not Thai regulations, they are the result of Chinese regulations. And the requirement for everyone to have been vaccinated is a common sense ruling that applies to many countries, move on, there's nothing to see here.

Hmmm, that was an unfortunate post Parafeno. Dan Cheeseman is the Managing Director of the group that owns several companies, including this forum, Asean Now. You may wish to google Choice Group Asia.

Do you really think the Ministry of Public Health and all the doctors in Thailand don't understand that, really? Vaccinations help prevent serious illness, hospitalisation and death, especially in older people. Right there are more than sufficient reasons to be vaccinated. If nothing else, one person being vaccinated potentially means one fewer hospital bed occupied and available for others who are very ill.

"Vaccines reduce the risk of COVID-19, including the risk of severe illness and death among people who are fully vaccinated. In addition to data from clinical trials, evidence from real-world vaccine effectiveness studies show that COVID-19 vaccines help protect against COVID-19 infections, with or without symptoms (asymptomatic infections). Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalizations has remained relatively high over time, although it tends to be slightly lower for older adults and for people with weakened immune systems". https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/work.html

My post was directed at another poster, not you.

After all this time with all the reports and all the news, you still don't understand, really? Vaccines prevent serious symptoms, illness and death, they do not prevent the virus from entering the body.

This is Thailand, not the USA or UK where standards are documented, approved, taught and enforced. Instead there are local standards and established practise, that's as good as it gets and the closest thing to a standard as you know it, that exists here. Given the thousands of builders operating in the Kingdom, each of them constructing buildings in their own, unregulated, time tested way, the idea of having centralised agreed building standards and that they might be enforced/able, is a joke. The police can't even get citizens to all drive on the left side of the road so enforceable building standards stand zero chance.

No vaccine stops infections.

Oh please! "Apparently, most balconies in Thailand have barriers that are about 700 or 800 mm high - for the shorter Thai people - and there is little or no policing of building regulations". If you need any more proof, feel free to google for it!

The BP is reporting the story and saying that insurance will ONLY be required from travellers who have onward travel from Thailand, to countries requiring a negative test for entry.