Strongest Baht in 5 Months, Less Than B35/US Dollar

[snoop1130]

 

BANGKOK, Dec 1 (TNA) – This morning the bath value appreciated to 34.97 baht against a US dollar, its strongest level in five months, compared to its close yesterday at 35.26 baht per dollar.

 

Kanchana Chokpaisarnsilp, a research executive at Kasikorn Research Center, said Asian currencies including baht appreciated as US dollar weakened after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said interest rate increase could slow down in December.

 

Poon Panichpibool, markets strategist at Krungthai Global Markets of Krungthai Bank, said players in the monetary market of the United States were less concerned about the interest rate increase by the Fed and fully exposed themselves to risks as Mr Powell agreed with other Fed officials to slow down the Fed’s rate hike.

 

Full Story: https://tna.mcot.net/english-news-1068296

 

-- © Copyright Thai News Agency 2022-12-01

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Monthly car subscription with first-class insurance, 24x7 assistance and more in one price - click here to find out more!

[ozz1]

It's going to hit their exports hard and drive tourists away so good luck Thailand

[sqwakvfr]

I remember 28 to 1 USD when I visited some years ago.  This was when tourism  was booming(and other booms as well).  

[garrya]

Finally! Carry on Baht!

[dinsdale]

Rates up. Exports expected to reduce. Tourism expected to reduce. Thai baht strenghtens. 

[BayArea]

3 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Rates up. Exports expected to reduce. Tourism expected to reduce. Thai baht strenghtens. 

we know it's not good for Thailand, but the 5 % who control LOS are happy as hell and don't give a you know what. what matters is they stayed rich and powerful. 

[Phnom Penh Trader]

The US Dollar has been tanking against most of the majors (hard currencies) for 6-7 weeks now GBPUSD,EURUSD,NZDUSD etc.

[RichardColeman]

Seems to me the baht is going insane again due to demand for baht for holidays, but same demand is killing exports. They would be better off letting it fall to export more and get more tourists spending more baht in country. You would have to think that destroying exports and turning tourists off is the result of the rich thais deliberately manipulating the currency to help themselves

[ozimoron]

At a time when tourism looks to be the strongest pillar of the Thai economy it makes economic sense to maintain the value of the Baht at high levels.

 

I did mention recently that Thailand runs a current account surplus and is one of several Asian countries bucking the worldwide trend into recession.

[new2here]

I don’t think it’s the baht getting stronger per se.. i think it’s more to do with how the market views the USD going forward.

Given Chairman Powells’ comments I suspect the market sees the dollar at perhaps topping out as the signal seems to be smaller FOMC upticks of perhaps 50bp and not the much larger 75bps they’ve done.

 

So, i suspect the THB/USD issue is more to do with movement in the USD than it is the relative strength or weakness of the THB itself 

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Rates up. Exports expected to reduce. Tourism expected to reduce. Thai baht strenghtens. 

TAT maintains tourism will rocket in Thailand next year.. back to 80% of pre-pandemic times.

[Phnom Penh Trader]

A strong currency doesn’t actually help any country as it makes exports far more expensive,stocks in that country’s companies more expensive and deters FDI/Foreign Direct Investment.

Of course no-one expects Thailand to have worked all this out though?

[John Drake]

38 minutes ago, Phnom Penh Trader said:

A strong currency doesn’t actually help any country as it makes exports far more expensive,stocks in that country’s companies more expensive and deters FDI/Foreign Direct Investment.

Of course no-one expects Thailand to have worked all this out though?

But it helps a lot when you're buying soccer teams, mansions in the UK and US, and buying out foreign businesses. And those are the only people that matter.

[spidermike007]

No doubt the top generals, and the other highly corrupt men in positions of leadership, are taking advantage to this and buying up villas, yachts, planes and helicopters around the world. I would guess that are surprised and pleased they have been able to hold onto power this long. 

[Autonuaq]

9 hours ago, new2here said:

I don’t think it’s the baht getting stronger per se.. i think it’s more to do with how the market views the USD going forward.

Given Chairman Powells’ comments I suspect the market sees the dollar at perhaps topping out as the signal seems to be smaller FOMC upticks of perhaps 50bp and not the much larger 75bps they’ve done.

 

So, i suspect the THB/USD issue is more to do with movement in the USD than it is the relative strength or weakness of the THB itself 

Thai bath is also again other currency increasing in strength, which is a problem for a country that is depending on tourist from those areas of the currencies it it getting stronger against.

 

When Thailand wants to become an importer it does make sense also to reform the total Thai economics and industry to reflect this and after than then Thaial can have a strong currency. now it is loosing more then it things it gains.. 

[Metapod]

im missing 38 already

[nigelforbes]

12 hours ago, ozimoron said:

At a time when tourism looks to be the strongest pillar of the Thai economy it makes economic sense to maintain the value of the Baht at high levels.

 

I did mention recently that Thailand runs a current account surplus and is one of several Asian countries bucking the worldwide trend into recession.

https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/current-account

[IAMHERE]

I think I read a few months ago that the 'higher ups' thought that the baht should be at 35 to the dollar.

[nigelforbes]

14 hours ago, Autonuaq said:

Thai bath is also again other currency increasing in strength, which is a problem for a country that is depending on tourist from those areas of the currencies it it getting stronger against.

 

When Thailand wants to become an importer it does make sense also to reform the total Thai economics and industry to reflect this and after than then Thaial can have a strong currency. now it is loosing more then it things it gains.. 

This is about USD movement, not THB rises or falls.

 

Thailand is not dependent on tourism, Thailand is dependent on exports, of which, international tourism is one component at about 11% of GDP. (Yes, really, international tourism in an export in economics terms)

 

And Thailand does not want to become an importer, that's the very last thing it wants. The Baht becomes strong because the current account remains in surplus. To accomplish that, Thailand needs to export more than it imports.