Thai baht soars as voters back pro-democracy parties

[webfact]

 

by leah

 

The Thai baht hit a five-week high this morning after pro-democracy parties came out as the biggest winners in yesterday’s General Election after nearly a decade of military-backed rule in Thailand.

 

The baht rallied 0.9% this morning to 33.70 against the greenback for the first time since April 5 after opposition parties Move Forward Pary (MFP) and Phue Thai won the majority of seats by a mile, paving the way for a coalition to wrangle power away from the military and back into the hands of the population.

Parties associated with the military received much less support, with the United Thai Nation party and Palang Pracharath parties receiving around 10% and 12% of the vote, respectively. But, with Parliamentary rules written by the military junta, no coalition is certain just yet in Thailand.

 

Either way, the vocal call for change was overwhelming and sent the baht’s value shooting upward this morning. The baht may get a further boost as data published today reveals that Thailand’s economy expanded at a faster rate in Q1. According to Bloomberg, Thailand’s gross domestic product rose 2.3% from one year ago.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/economy/thai-baht-soars-as-voters-back-pro-democracy-parties

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-05-16

 

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[fresher]

At 10pm Monday evening in the UK, the pound has barely moved against the THB

[neeray]

" But, with Parliamentary rules written by the military junta, no coalition is certain just yet in Thailand."

While anything is possible in Thai politics, I highly doubt that any skullduggery will take place this time. The people have spoken; they just wouldn't stand for it.

[Dukeleto]

We’ll see I guess. Can’t see the military releasing it’s stranglehold on Thai politics.

[ukrules]

24 minutes ago, fresher said:

At 10pm Monday evening in the UK, the pound has barely moved against the THB

That's right, it's the same with the dollar if anyone cares to check.

 

The whole story is just an untruth - the markets did nothing, it's almost like nobody cares - which is probably near the truth.

 

 

It's been ranging around this level since May 5.

 

[LALes]

Dollar dropped 50 satang an hour ago but recovered a lot of it.

[hotchilli]

If the ruling Junta influence the EC to evict the MFP there will be hell to pay on the streets.

Prayut and Prawit have had their day, time to retire somewhere sunny on your ill gotten billions.

[wazzupnow]

1 hour ago, neeray said:

" But, with Parliamentary rules written by the military junta, no coalition is certain just yet in Thailand."

While anything is possible in Thai politics, I highly doubt that any skullduggery will take place this time. The people have spoken; they just wouldn't stand for it.

same as last time i cannot leave U need me?

[CartagenaWarlock]

My hunch is that if Military tries to interfere with the election results, Baht will crash. 

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, fresher said:

At 10pm Monday evening in the UK, the pound has barely moved against the THB

Sterling was doing a bit of strengthening itself due to an interest rate hike. Compare both v USD.

Nevertheless Sterling was close to 43 over a week or so ago....

Edited May 15, 2023 by jacko45k

[Geoffggi]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Parliamentary rules written by the military junta, no coalition is certain just yet in Thailand.

These rules need to be addressed together with getting rid of the 250 sitting generals in the senate

[Isaan sailor]

Yup, USD down, Baht up.  Interest rates in US now 5+%.  Interest rates in Thailand—around 2%..  I’ve given up trying to make sense of it all.

[dallen52]

1 hour ago, neeray said:

" But, with Parliamentary rules written by the military junta, no coalition is certain just yet in Thailand."

While anything is possible in Thai politics, I highly doubt that any skullduggery will take place this time. The people have spoken; they just wouldn't stand for it.

Plenty of pay for votes in the local villages. 

Perhaps Prayut was saving his accumulated wealth?

[daveAustin]

1 hour ago, neeray said:

While anything is possible in Thai politics, I highly doubt that any skullduggery will take place this time. The people have spoken; they just wouldn't stand for it.

Thought that in 2014 when they stole the country. It could’ve kicked off massively, and many times since, but never did. If the army did their thing again (they won’t give in easily), there would likely be some pushback, but Thais are generally apathetic and most would sadly take it. 

[Eloquent pilgrim]

Ridiculous headline. Soars ? sure, it has soared like an Emu.

 

As I write it is 42.30 against the UK pound; it has been between 42.10 and 42.80 for several weeks

[Chris Renaix]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The baht rallied 0.9% this morning

0.9% is a rally nowadays?  Really?

[1happykamper]

It hardly "soared"

 

[RichardColeman]

My UK could produced the greatest financials ever or Thailand could be totally nuked into oblivion and the baht would still go up.

[jesimps]

2 hours ago, neeray said:

" But, with Parliamentary rules written by the military junta, no coalition is certain just yet in Thailand."

While anything is possible in Thai politics, I highly doubt that any skullduggery will take place this time. The people have spoken; they just wouldn't stand for it.

Admire your optimism.

[GreasyFingers]

Would not have anything to do with the USD dropping.

[koolkarl]

The baht is a controlled currency, in other words, you cannot buy or sell large amounts.  Interest rates in Thailand are peanuts whereas they are around 5% in the US. Thailand isn't the US.  Thai central bank must have a USD swap line in place that allows them to sell USD and buy baht at will thus supporting the baht. If it wasn't for the swap line, the baht would fall off a cliff.

[mikebell]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

If the ruling Junta influence the EC to evict the MFP there will be hell to pay on the streets.

Prayut and Prawit have had their day, time to retire somewhere sunny on your ill gotten billions.

Saudi's full already.

[Pink Mist]

Troll posts and replies removed. 

[vivananahuahin]

if democracy is ignorated then i fear violence of the people wakes up and i 'm afraid for the future of this country, and the baht can crash very quickly and the poor people will receive the boomerang in the face, very bleak future for young people, too bad....

[h90]

I can't see that. Maybe against the Zimbabwe Dollar?

[wealthychef]

3 hours ago, ukrules said:

That's right, it's the same with the dollar if anyone cares to check.

 

The whole story is just an untruth - the markets did nothing, it's almost like nobody cares - which is probably near the truth.

 

 

It's been ranging around this level since May 5.

 

I read it differently.  Remember that markets buy on rumors and sell on the news.  So the improvement in price from Apr 24 to present might be the market reacting to the predicted outcome of a progressive blowout.  When it happened, you can see the market got ready for a disappointment and then corrected back when the results came in.  That's the way I see it.  

[dallen52]

Doesn't mean much in the Land of Corruption. 

Still 250 military and numerous hi so on the gravy train. 

Lining thier coffers.

 

Another country where you can win an election and still lose.

[Chongalulu]

2 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Thought that in 2014 when they stole the country. It could’ve kicked off massively, and many times since, but never did. If the army did their thing again (they won’t give in easily), there would likely be some pushback, but Thais are generally apathetic and most would sadly take it. 

While nothing can be ruled out there has been such a huge and surprising swing towards the opposition parties,and very significantly towards the most radical. A message has been sent and more importantly the electorate know how much stronger they are in te rms of seeking reform. At some point a tipping point is reached and I think this may be it. For sure any attempt to thwart it is going to be very costly and messy and things could turn ugly. 

[dallen52]

4 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

Click bait. The Baht had been strengthening for days already, and on Monday morning it increased a whopping 0.4% over the previous day. Today it has already inched back.

22.5 to the Australian $.

Err right..

That's totally unamazing. 

[kevin612]

With US such high interest rate, now is almost 34. Imagine the interest rate go back like before Covid, I think it’s like 1vs 28 again. Thai baht is too strong somehow.