Baht Rises To Strongest Level In Decade

[JAS21]

seems pretty strong against the GBP too though. I wired some money from my UK account to BB account and got much less baht for my buck (well pound).

Maybe the pound is depreciating along with the dollar? I guess i could look into it, check out the rates etc, but truth be told though, im really so bad at working that stuff out, and a tad lazy about trying. :S

You should be getting about 69. Then you have to takeoff your UK swift costs and then the few baht that BB charge you (max of 500).

Try getting a Nationwide Account..you will get about BB TT rate and no costs. Many threads on this.

[Jayman]

Yes, can someone PLEASE explain why on the Foreign Exchange Market the Baht is trading at 31.7 to the US Dollar??

That is the rate that credit cards use. For instance, even though this article says the rate is 34, if I charge something on my US credit card, it is converted at 31.7 (then, there is an additional 3% conversion charge). I believe the same happens if I withdraw money from my US account at an ATM here.

It's freaking killing me!

I just got a Captial One card. They don't charge the 3% foreign currency conversion fee. Someone here once posted that Capital One still used Visa and Visa charges the 3%. Well, not sure how they get around it but Capital One deosn't charge the 3%.

You are partially correct my friend. I got a Capital One cause they "CLAIM" they don't have the 3% foreign currency conversion charge (like almost every other CC). When I first used it in Thailand I could see how they collect their money. Using the Capital One will cause the charge to show up on the receipt from the vendor in USD. The rate that is used to calculate the currency conversion is NOT the fair bank rate that is given by other cards and banks. The rate they convert at is adjusted in their favor by several %. This keeps them from having to charge you a separate 3% fee. If you ask me, they are just being sneaky by saying they don't charge a currency conversion fee but they really do. It's just hidden in the original charge. Just FYI, if you use another CC the charge will show up on the vendors receipt in THB and the conversion will occur on your statement with the 3% conversion charge.

If you don't trust me on this, look for yourself. And for ANYONE that wants to see what the onshore (in country) baht rate is, including what you get if you transfer money from an off shore bank into SCB, look here http://www.scb.co.th/html/exchange/bk-txtexchange.htm

When I make a transfer from my Stateside bank to SCB I always get the rate listed in the "Bank Buying Rate T/T"

Hope that helps.

[Jai Dee]

Thai stock index continues to hit new highs

The Stock Exchange of Thailand’s composite index broke through its psychological resistance level of 800 points at the opening bell Tuesday and continued to surge to a new high at 813.71, up 21 points, in the morning trading session, driven by a continued foreign capital inflow.

The index was still in a major bullish trend as most investors rushed to buy blue-chip stocks in the energy, banking, finance and building material sectors.

The market continued to gain momentum from the bullish trading on Monday when the index hit a record high in three years and five months, credited as investors response to the belief that the country's political uncertainties had eased and the economy would begin to recover in the second half of this year.

Some were waiting the second-quarter operating performance of listed companies to be released by this month.

Sukij Udomsiri, senior vice president of Siam City Securities, said the index surge was boosted by both internal and external factors including a low inflation rate, a sign of economic recovery, and a rally by the Dow Jones Industrial Index and other Asian stock markets.

He said the index is likely to rally to 830 points, but might weaken in the short run first because it rallied strongly in the past few days.

The SET index closed in the morning trading session at 813.71 points, up 21 or 2.65 per cent, with a heavy trading volume of 25.42 billion baht.

Source: TNA - 03 July 2007

[koheesti]

Yes, can someone PLEASE explain why on the Foreign Exchange Market the Baht is trading at 31.7 to the US Dollar??

That is the rate that credit cards use. For instance, even though this article says the rate is 34, if I charge something on my US credit card, it is converted at 31.7 (then, there is an additional 3% conversion charge). I believe the same happens if I withdraw money from my US account at an ATM here.

It's freaking killing me!

I just got a Captial One card. They don't charge the 3% foreign currency conversion fee. Someone here once posted that Capital One still used Visa and Visa charges the 3%. Well, not sure how they get around it but Capital One deosn't charge the 3%.

You are partially correct my friend. I got a Capital One cause they "CLAIM" they don't have the 3% foreign currency conversion charge (like almost every other CC). When I first used it in Thailand I could see how they collect their money. Using the Capital One will cause the charge to show up on the receipt from the vendor in USD. The rate that is used to calculate the currency conversion is NOT the fair bank rate that is given by other cards and banks. The rate they convert at is adjusted in their favor by several %. This keeps them from having to charge you a separate 3% fee. If you ask me, they are just being sneaky by saying they don't charge a currency conversion fee but they really do. It's just hidden in the original charge. Just FYI, if you use another CC the charge will show up on the vendors receipt in THB and the conversion will occur on your statement with the 3% conversion charge.

If you don't trust me on this, look for yourself. And for ANYONE that wants to see what the onshore (in country) baht rate is, including what you get if you transfer money from an off shore bank into SCB, look here http://www.scb.co.th/html/exchange/bk-txtexchange.htm

When I make a transfer from my Stateside bank to SCB I always get the rate listed in the "Bank Buying Rate T/T"

Hope that helps.

Well, #$%&*@!

Thanks for the info all the same Jayman.

[adam1]

...Cheney has been in and around govt. for so long, I'm not sure that a small thing like a constitutional law is necessarily going to stop him from cancelling or postponing elections, in case of dire circumstances like a war on Iran, or some such misadventure.

Anyone who even remotely believes this will happen has a lot more serious problems than the baht exchange rate. Regardless of what's happening in the USA or elsewhere, one would think that a military coup and over 2000 people killed in the unstable southern region of Thailand over the past couple years might have a negative effect on the baht and foreign investment. Yet I read here somewhere that the baht was the best performing currency in the world in 2006. Huh?

I was responding to an earlier post by someone casting caution on the notion that all will be well when Bush and the neocons are removed from office in 1.5 years time.

I think they were right to sound a cautionary note. I do not believe that elections will not happen, but it's a possibility. You only have top take a look at what has already happened, rigged elections and illegal wars. What makes you think they will play by the rules when they so clearly have not been doing so thus far? Don't be so sure. Your confidence in those in power is alarming in itself.

[lazeeboy]

...Cheney has been in and around govt. for so long, I'm not sure that a small thing like a constitutional law is necessarily going to stop him from cancelling or postponing elections, in case of dire circumstances like a war on Iran, or some such misadventure.

Anyone who even remotely believes this will happen has a lot more serious problems than the baht exchange rate. Regardless of what's happening in the USA or elsewhere, one would think that a military coup and over 2000 people killed in the unstable southern region of Thailand over the past couple years might have a negative effect on the baht and foreign investment. Yet I read here somewhere that the baht was the best performing currency in the world in 2006. Huh?

I was responding to an earlier post by someone casting caution on the notion that all will be well when Bush and the neocons are removed from office in 1.5 years time.

I think they were right to sound a cautionary note. I do not believe that elections will not happen, but it's a possibility. You only have top take a look at what has already happened, rigged elections and illegal wars. What makes you think they will play by the rules when they so clearly have not been doing so thus far? Don't be so sure. Your confidence in those in power is alarming in itself.

the baht is only strong against the us dollar ,but then so is everyone else ,miss leading information

[easybullet3]

seems pretty strong against the GBP too though. I wired some money from my UK account to BB account and got much less baht for my buck (well pound).

Maybe the pound is depreciating along with the dollar? I guess i could look into it, check out the rates etc, but truth be told though, im really so bad at working that stuff out, and a tad lazy about trying. :S

i guess it depends which bank or organisation you 'wired' your money with.

if it was western union, then ok, they give a lousey exchange rate.

for me, (with nationwide bank), the rate dropped about 5 months ago by a tiny bit,, but recently its been on the increase!

(PS: if any of you brittons didnt already know,, nationwide is a REALLY good account for travelling coz it does NOT charge anything for foreign ATM widthdrawals). free ATM's worldwide. (so you can draw out 100 baht from your british account nad get charged ZERO fees!) the exchange reate is also quite good. (around 69 baht for a pound).

the best I had was about 73 baht/pound (3 years ago)... droped to about 68 (5 months ago),, and now back on the steady rise in the past coule of months, (now about 68/pound)

I do agree that the US dollar is always low,, so anything compared to the dollar seems good!!

(PS: can anyone shed some light here.. some american financial guy told me that becasue the american reserve sold all its GOLD reserves it means that the US dollar now has nothing to support it, thus making it valueless.. he said that the US dollar has value solely coz of peoples 'faith' in it. he said its theoretical that if the worldwide faith in the doillar stopped the US economy could drop to 3rd world status overnight, (purely coz theres no gold to back u the currency)..

I would really be interested if ANY financial people out there could coment on this. its very interesting.

[fletchsmile]

Strength is partly due to USD weaknesses against most currencies. However, it is also partly due to THB strengthening in its own right, as it as gained more than say SGD, IDR, GBP etc.

For those who get confused on the different rates, one way of simplifying:

Onshore is basically what it says the rate you get inside Thailand, on Thailand's lovely shores. The Bank of Thailand's own published rates is one of the most common references used

http://www.bot.or.th/bothomepage/databank/.../exchange_e.asp

Offshore is basically the rate you get outside Thailand, outside Thailand's lovey shores. There are many sources for this. As there are more people outside Thailand than in, and more places there are more sources , eg Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/currencie...currencies.html

When quoting rates, there's a bid rate, offer rate depending on whether you are selling or buying. Add them up and divide by two and you get a mid-rate! Different banks quote different rates at different times in different locations.

Worth noting is that at the moment there is an approx 8% difference in the onshore and offshore rates. This is quite a sizeable different. if your changing/transferring money.

Why such a big difference? One key reason is capital controls implemented in Thailand to reduce speculation.

What does the onshore/offshore difference mean to you? Broadly you get more baht to your dollar/pound if you buy Baht in Thailand.

So buying your Baht in Thailand keeps you and Bank of Thailand both happy! As Happiness is the purpose of life for many.....

[midas]

can anyone shed some light here.. some american financial guy told me that becasue the american reserve sold all its GOLD reserves it means that the US dollar now has nothing to support it, thus making it valueless.. he said that the US dollar has value solely coz of peoples 'faith' in it. he said its theoretical that if the worldwide faith in the doillar stopped the US economy could drop to 3rd world status overnight, (purely coz theres no gold to back u the currency)..

I would really be interested if ANY financial people out there could coment on this. its very interesting.

Well I have a high regard for Clyde Prestowitz regarding this subject. He is a very cluey guy

- used to be one of Ronald Reagan's top economic advisers. He says we are all skating on very thin ice because

if the world lost " its faith " ( which could happen at any time ) it would be disastrous.........

Have a look at this - even back in 2005 he was starting to ring the alarm bells............................

http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/11...prestowitz.html

[astral]

Live rates at 2007.07.03 06:39:16 UTC

20,000.00 THB

=

311.926 GBP

Thailand Baht United Kingdom Pounds 1 THB = 0.0155963 GBP 1 GBP = 64.1179 THB

The usual visit to thai atm!!!

This just shows how foolish it is to use an ATM in Thailand to draw money from overseas.

The onshore rate is 69.16 baht/GBP.

So you lost around 10% on your transaction.

If you can, open a bank account in Thailand and TT "sterling funds" to the account

Be sure to emphasise the word sterling funds, then you get the good exchange rate.

[redewenur]

Pound to baht has been fairly steady over past 4 months, after downward trend over previous 3 months.

US Dollar to baht has been falling steadily since mid 2005 (when it was about $1 to 44 baht)

US Dollar to pound...the Dollar has been in decline for at least 5 yrs - it's lost about 35%, maybe more. That can't be accounted for simply by the strength of the Pound, which has been comparatively stable against the Euro for the past 4 yrs.

The consensus in this thread is that it's not really a case of a rising baht, more a case of a falling dollar - which the figures confirm. In any case, it's all mumbo-jumbo to the majority of Thais - until they can see a change in their standard of living.

Edited July 3, 2007 by redewenur

[Otis]

Yes, can someone PLEASE explain why on the Foreign Exchange Market the Baht is trading at 31.7 to the US Dollar??

That is the rate that credit cards use. For instance, even though this article says the rate is 34, if I charge something on my US credit card, it is converted at 31.7 (then, there is an additional 3% conversion charge). I believe the same happens if I withdraw money from my US account at an ATM here.

It's freaking killing me!

Currency traders outside Thailand (banks, cc companies, oanda, et al) are generally much more greedy than those in Thailand. Don't use your out of country credit card in Thailand if you can avoid it. You'll get the crappy offshore exchange rate, as well as a fee from the cc company for the conversion of your money at the crappy rate. And always direct foreign banks to send dollars or whatever to Thailand, and let the banks in muang tai do the conversion. The difference are often around two baht per dollar (for me).

Re: Decline of the dollar: articles abound on the internet actually promoting this as a good idea. The economics department of Yale University is lobbying for it. Rumor has it that it's a deliberate action on the part of the Bush administration, Yale being a university that decided to give this C student a degree.

I defy any non-fabulously wealthy American to find one thing this man has done that's been in their best interest...

Yes, I agree. I, being a Landlord have observed that Bush policies have given too many people loans to buy their own homes. Thus, my rental business has suffered. The good and marginally good renters have bought and moved into their own homes leaving me with vacancies. The loser tenants are now moving up on the rental quality unit. As the losers move into higher quality units and neighborhoods, they degrade both. Yes, Bush has given too many people a shot at the American dream of owning their own homes, but at great cost to many landlords, properties, and neighborhoods. Otis :D

[fletchsmile]

Perhaps I am stating the obvious but if you are transferring fund from US, AUS or EU etc. you always get a better rate if you send the money in your home countries currency and then let them convert it here. Normally about a 5-7% better rate. Even better rate if you bring cash into the country when you fly here....

It all depends on which website you look at for conversion rates as to what they value a particular currency at...

As always there are exceptions to the rule. Try taking Rupiah (IDR) to some of the money changers to change to Baht (THB). My brother did that about 3 years back while visting me in Thailand after his trip to Bali. As the amount was only a few thousand baht, and he wasn't familiar with the rates between this currency pair, he didn't bother checking. They actually gave him about half the going rate. When he told me the rate I took it straight back with receipt, asking if there had been a mistake. They pointed to the rate on the board. When I asked why it was so poor, they said it's because they didn't want Rupiah. To prove it they were very fair and swapped the THB back into IDR when I explained my brother wasn't aware of the rates . They really didn't want IDR.

That brings us to a point of supply and demand, which is also a key factor in exchange rates.

If the onshore rate gives more Baht to the dollar that says something. At the same time the fact the offshore rate is much lower says another, if you work it thru.

[bob/nyc]

Yahoo finance is still showing under 32 Baht/USD

Yahoo finance has not given an accurate quote in 6 months now.

[Gnarpjohan]

I wonder what role currency speculation plays here?

The "carry-trade" strategy of borrowing in Japan (at very low rates) and investing the borrowed money elsewhere has been a very successful strategy for quite some time.

T-bill rates:

Japan: 0.475%

Thailand (28 d): 2.95-3.04%

USA: 5.25% (Fed target rate)

The chart below shows how the exchange rates of YEN/THB, YEN/USD and THB/USD have moved since July 2, 2004 which is set as the base date. All exchange rates are scaled to equal 1.0 at the base date. More YEN per THB, for instance, means that the YEN has decreased in value compared to the Thai baht (THB). So the chart shows that the THB has gained more relative to the YEN compared to USD (YEN has fallen in value relative to both THB and USD). It follows that the THB has strengthened relative to USD.

The carry trade between Japan and USD is pretty notorious (borrowing in Japan, investing the borrowed money in USD). But someone that has instead borrowed in Japan and invested in Thai T-bills have made an even better deal: benefiting from the interest differential and the Thai baht being much stronger than the USD. Also, as an Asian currency, I am guessing that the THB is more correlated to the YEN than the USD, making the THB-YEN play less risky than the YEN-USD trade if things go wrong.

Not to bash financial markets, just trying to understand what could be going on. The effect of such trading is a continued weakening of the YEN and strengthening of the THB. Now, if folks need to close their positions in a hurry, this could lead to a sharp drop in the THB and increase in the YEN when THB are exchanged to YEN and loans are repaid. Higher interest rates in Japan could trigger this.

[jmdelan5]

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Not related to Thai Baht

[jmdelan5]

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[chinthee]

Bush, ..Credit cards? Sounds like a political discussion to me. Can we get back on topic? I saw over 1100 people on here earlier, and we're deteriorating the thread rapidly.

[cdnvic]

...Cheney has been in and around govt. for so long, I'm not sure that a small thing like a constitutional law is necessarily going to stop him from cancelling or postponing elections, in case of dire circumstances like a war on Iran, or some such misadventure.

Anyone who even remotely believes this will happen has a lot more serious problems than the baht exchange rate. Regardless of what's happening in the USA or elsewhere, one would think that a military coup and over 2000 people killed in the unstable southern region of Thailand over the past couple years might have a negative effect on the baht and foreign investment. Yet I read here somewhere that the baht was the best performing currency in the world in 2006. Huh?

I was responding to an earlier post by someone casting caution on the notion that all will be well when Bush and the neocons are removed from office in 1.5 years time.

I think they were right to sound a cautionary note. I do not believe that elections will not happen, but it's a possibility. You only have top take a look at what has already happened, rigged elections and illegal wars. What makes you think they will play by the rules when they so clearly have not been doing so thus far? Don't be so sure. Your confidence in those in power is alarming in itself.

speaking of being an alarmist......rigged elections????? Did you hear what the Dems did in Florida regarding registering homeless and dead people???? are you even American? Tune off CNN my friend. illegal wars? Congress gave Bush the power. Read. 10 years of BS after Iraq ONE. Killing their own people and invading other countries. Perhaps we should have let Hitler march on. Sure he would have stopped on his own. I thought this was supposed to be about the Baht and credit cards????????

Oh <deleted>, get over it both of you. We've all heard this crap far too many times and most of us just plain don't care anymore.

[jbowman1993]

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Edited July 4, 2007 by astral
Not related to Thai Baht

[toadstool]

During the first Gulf War when the other Bush was in charge we had a similar situation, weak dollar.

Now with Bush the younger, his cronnies and poodle (Blair).  They are doing alright. Blair on his £64,000+ pension. More than enough to live in Thailand.

Everyone else must suffer. I have lost over 30% of my salary due to these people and their ecomonic experiment. When it all collpases in to a large black hole they will be protected.

I just hope that the people of the UK and USA come to their senses and end this situation.

I tend to believe and hope that in just over 1.5 years things will improve but like most of you I suspect it will be a struggle.

But will the Baht exchange rate stop me coming to Thailand? No, so it is all academic really. Just a few less Singha's!!,

[chinthee]

If you want to follow the deeper debate, go here:

Where is the Thai economy going

[warmwater7]

Its almost like we can't wait to see the @rse fall out of the US economy... Almost...

I love it when there are 2 dollars to the pound, makes conversion easier and it reminds me of when I were a lad up in't north!

them were some grand days...

Loz

the usd is artificially devalued buy u.s. govt. to attract foreign investment. this is done to finance the action in middle east w/o any additional drain on taxpayers. it will change with the next election. sadly if the us fails, we will all go down with it.

if that is your wish,start learning to speak chinese. my wife is thai,phd buisness adm. ( western) her quote. interesting.

[VegasVic]

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[VegasVic]

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[swain]

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[VegasVic]

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[LaoPo]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm getting sick with these discussions about the US economy, US house prices, the FED, Apple stocks, the White House and so much more which has NOTHING to do with:

this topic, since it's called:

Baht Rises To Strongest Level In Decade

I'm quite sure there are lots of forums in the US where these discussions could take place.

But...I know: who am I, right?

LaoPo

[dereklev]

Yesterday I withdrew 20,000 Baht from an ATM using a Nationwide (UK) card.

It cost me 289.34 Pounds which coverts to a rate of 69.12 Baht

This is the best rate I have got for many months!!!

So certainly the Thai Baht is not at its Strongest Level In Decade against the British Pound......

XE.com show an exchange rate of 64.02 Baht to the Pound, which I assume is the offshore rate, a difference of approx. 8%.....

[Guest madcow]

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Edited July 4, 2007 by astral
Not related to Thai Baht