What Is Happening To The Thai Baht?

[uk_falang]

Hi

I want to wire about 10,000 sterling from my UK bank account to Thailand. Over the past 3 months the value of the Baht against the pound has changed by almost 15%.

Is the value of the Baht likely to drop in the near future? Is it worth hanging on and sending this money at a later date? Some people are talking about the baht crashing. Exchange rate and economics are over my head

Thanks

[Thaicoon]

Hi

I want to wire about 10,000 sterling from my UK bank account to Thailand. Over the past 3 months the value of the Baht against the pound has changed by almost 15%.

Is the value of the Baht likely to drop in the near future? Is it worth hanging on and sending this money at a later date? Some people are talking about the baht crashing. Exchange rate and economics are over my head

Thanks

I also have some cash to send, for land we have just bought, so watch the exchange every day, it is about 68 this morning, heck i remember when it went as low as 34 to the pound, about 10 years ago, then crept up to 90, thats when i built my house, i notice it is starting to creep back down again, it makes a hel_l of a differance when you are sending large amounts of cash over, i have americam mates of mine who get money over on a regular basis, it has hit some big time, US Dollar and the baht not good, one guy is down 10,000 baht a month.

USD1 USD : 1 33.98 35.41

USD5 USD : 5-20 34.36 35.41

USD50 USD : 50-100 34.84 35.49 35.01 35.11 35.31

GBP United Kingdom 66.70 68.53 67.43000 67.60250 68.27250

EUR Euro Zone 45.69 46.75 45.89750 46.00250 46.50500

JPY Japan (:100) 29.32 30.34 29.73375 29.80375 30.23125

HKD Hong Kong 4.40 4.57 4.46750 4.48250 4.53250

MYR Malaysia: 10, 50, 100 9.27 10.34 Unquote Unquote Unquote

SGD Singapore 22.68 23.35 22.84750 22.91000 23.22375

BND Brunei 22.19 23.25 - - -

CNY China 3.83 4.93 Unquote Unquote Unquote

IDR Indonesia (:1000) 2.69 4.33 3.35665 3.40045 4.31400

INR India : 50-1000 0.67875 0.87750 - - 0.84750

KRW Korea 0.0292 0.0393 - - -

PHP Philippines 0.53 0.79 - - 0.74000

TWD Taiwan 0.86 1.13 - - -

AUD Australia 26.85 27.77 27.12000 27.19750 27.65000

NZD New Zealand 23.90 24.91 23.97750 24.05000 24.43500

CHF Switzerland 28.09 28.90 28.41250 28.48500 28.87250

DKK Denmark 5.92 6.25 6.13500 6.15250 6.24000

NOK Norway 5.46 5.73 5.60250 5.62000 5.70375

SEK Sweden 4.75 5.02 4.91875 4.93000 5.00250

CAD Canada 29.16 30.12 29.54250 29.61500 30.06500

AED United Arab Emirate 7.76 9.92 - - -

BHD Bahrain 63.03 94.29 - - -

JOD Jordan - - - - -

KWD Kuwait - - - - -

OMR Oman 63.26 92.37 - - -

QAR Qatar 7.69 10.01 - - -

SAR Saudi Arabia 7.71 9.95 - - -

[suiging]

It's not the strength of the economy, it's the supply and demand senario. Tight controls on the money supply mean there is simply not a lot of baht around ( relative comment of course). New minister today stated controls will stay. How long ? Who knows ?

Edited March 9, 2007 by suiging

[uk_falang]

It's not the strength of the economy, it's the supply and demand senario. Tight controls on the money supply mean there is simply not a lot of baht around ( relative comment of course). New minister today stated controls will stay. How long ? Who knows ?

Supply and demand? They will not sell their Bahts?

I dont understand this, but I know they can devalue the baht by printing more money.

This would be good for tourist and exports?

According th x-rates.com todays GBP to Baht is 63.7 which is pretty bloody awful actually. If I wait to send the money it may be better - although I am not sure which exchange rate i get. Will I get the exchange rate on the day I call my bank in the UK to wire the money or will it be the exchange rate on the day it clears into the Thai bank?

I am getting the feeling that Thailand does not really want tourism any more, what with difficult to understand visa regulations, currency exchange rate. You are not really even meant to have a bank account here any more if you only have a tourist visa.

I live in the north of Thailand where they seem to be trying to attract Chinese and Asian tourists. I think because they are better behaved. Maybe true though, although the Chinese tourists are big whore mongers they do it discretely which I think is good thing. I dont see any "Amazing Thailand" ads in the UK any more.

[OneeyedJohn]

But you do see 'Chang' on the Liverpool blue.

[twix38]

I am no expert, but if you send GBP and have it converted in Thailand you should receive the onshore rate. This is better than the offshore rate that you see from the UK.

[enyaw]

63.7 is the onshore rate.

[Casanundra]

Hi

I want to wire about 10,000 sterling from my UK bank account to Thailand. Over the past 3 months the value of the Baht against the pound has changed by almost 15%.

Is the value of the Baht likely to drop in the near future? Is it worth hanging on and sending this money at a later date? Some people are talking about the baht crashing. Exchange rate and economics are over my head

Thanks

You can exchange it with me if you like. I want to take some of my Thai baht out of the country and exchange it to sterling so why not both of us save transfer and hassle fees and do a swap at a mutually agreed rate?

[Penkoprod]

63.7 is the onshore rate.

Thats one HECK of a one day drop if it were true

Yesterday it was trading at 68 - 69 depending on where you looked

I think you got your "shores" the wrong way round

Penkoprod

[rainman]

I think the goal of the Thai Government is to put the Thai Baht at an exchange rate of 1:1 to the US Dollar, 1:1 to the Pound, etc. They do want to keep the prices of everything else the same, though. Farangs can afford a 100 dollar taxi ride from Sukhumvit to Bang Kapi or a 20,000 pound apartment per month ...

[SmokeandIce]

I moved here in September and am getting a fixed US$ amount which was more than fine before the baht started skyrocketing. I know no one knows 100% what will happen in the future, but any gut feelings if the baht will continue to strenghten until it gets to where it was before 1997 (25:1) or will it weaken in the next 6 months to 1 year? I really don't see why the Thai baht continues to strenghten so much more than other asian currencies.

[rainman]

I really don't see why the Thai baht continues to strenghten so much more than other asian currencies.

Maybe there are "supernatural" powers involved? Since I get all my income in USD, I won't be in Thailand the day it hits 25:1.

[sonicdragon]

I am getting the feeling that Thailand does not really want tourism any more, what with difficult to understand visa regulations, currency exchange rate. You are not really even meant to have a bank account here any more if you only have a tourist visa.

On the contrary, Thailand welcomes tourists as it always has. What's difficult to understand about the visa regulations for tourists ? You can get a tourist visa very very easily. And if you are staying less than 30 days you don't even need a visa. And even if you are staying over 30 days you can do a visa run and get another 30 day visa exemption. And another 30 days later if you want. OK, then you have to leave and get a real visa. What's wrong with that ? They have to draw the line somewhere.

By comparison, how easily can an average Thai get a tourist visa for the UK or the most popular tourist desination in the world - France - or anywhere else in Europe ? It's almost impossible for them.

But anyway, I digress. Yeah, the exchange rate is doing us any favours. My advice is to not try to second guess it. If professional investors and very clever economists can't get it right what hope do we have ? ? If you need to transfer the money now, I would do it now.

[tuky]

The last 3 months according to yahoo.com finance

[enyaw]

63.7 is the onshore rate.

Thats one HECK of a one day drop if it were true

Yesterday it was trading at 68 - 69 depending on where you looked

I think you got your "shores" the wrong way round

Penkoprod

What's the beef then?

[enyaw]

63.7 is the onshore rate.

Thats one HECK of a one day drop if it were true

Yesterday it was trading at 68 - 69 depending on where you looked

I think you got your "shores" the wrong way round

Penkoprod

What's the beef then?

And I dont mean the exchange rate of beef.. before anyone starts.

[bingobongo]

the strengthening baht is killing manufaturing, the comparitive advantage of foreign companies manufacturing/investing is disappearing in Thailand

Political turmoil hurts Thai corporate profits

"stronger baht eroded earnings of exporters such as chip assembler Hana Microelectronics."

"The combined profit for 46 of the 50 biggest publicly traded companies by value, as represented in the SET 50 Index, dropped 70 percent from a year earlier to 39.4 billion baht, or $1.1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Twenty-five companies reported either a drop in profit or a loss in the quarter, while 21 posted higher net income.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/07/bloomberg/sxbaht.php

[Neeranam]

Great news for us that get paid in Baht. I hope it gets to what it was 10 years ago.