7 minutes ago, Mark1969 said:

My least favorite through the years is dental work.

Luckily though, I have spent most of my adult life overseas in different countries and have faithfully did dental visits and at 79 still have almost all my teeth with no real problems at all.  My last visit here in CM after 20 years here in country, resulted in no cavities and no cleaning necessary so i see that a real positive!  When I enlisted in the military and on flying status, had to have some dental work done as no cavities nor shaky fillings were allowed due to the possibility of problems due to altitude changes and the dentist that took care of us was reportedly the best in the US Air Force.  I still have some of his work in my mouth after over 45 years! 

3 hours ago, captain_shane said:

I'm pretty sure he's pakistani, he's violently anti-indian which they're known for.

Why on earth would someone from Pakistan want to live in cold, damp and apparently racist England?

 

He also seems to despise any type of frugality as he decries the “cheapos”.

 

So…a wealthy Pakistani perhaps?

 

 

The Baht is artificially kept high. Let it float and see what it goes to. It wont be 31.9 of that I am sure

57 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

The Baht is artificially kept high. Let it float and see what it goes to. It wont be 31.9 of that I am sure

How do they keep it artificially high?

1 minute ago, Yellowtail said:

How do they keep it artificially high?

The Bank of Thailand sets the rate. They don't let it float and settle against other currencies.

Just now, Photoguy21 said:

The Bank of Thailand sets the rate. They don't let it float and settle against other currencies.

How do they set it thousands of times a day? 

 

And why do they not set it at 20 and make everyone rich? 

Just now, Yellowtail said:

How do they set it thousands of times a day? 

 

And why do they not set it at 20 and make everyone rich? 

They don't. They set a range. The range is what they feel is reasonable.

1 minute ago, Yellowtail said:

How do they set it thousands of times a day? 

 

And why do they not set it at 20 and make everyone rich? 

I suggest you read a bit more as you obviously have no idea about these things.

On 9/25/2025 at 4:35 AM, Autocan said:

Glimmer of good news tonight. USD which was 1 to 31.xx baht past few weeks has strengthened to 32.10.

 

When it hits 1:38, or above, I will consider this to be just the first glimmer.

 

That is why there is usually a Central Bank and a body that can regulate the appreciation or depreciation of a nation's  currency. 

 

Probably Trump who put pressure for the Bhat to appreciate and thus make Thai exports less competitive as they would cost more. 

 

One thing for sure as a strong THB  will  harm tourism and foreigners or retirees will chose to spend their time elsewhere in Asia or in the sunny areas of Europe. But on the other hand a strong THB could serve the interests of the hi-so's and rich in power,  who want to send their THB abroad. 

 

For the westerners, tourists, retirees looking for alternatives, nany places in Europe like Spain, Cyprus, Malta, Tenerife are sunny and warm most of the year. They have a relatively low cost of living that is not all that more expensive then the upper scale venues in Thailand in cities like Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya or Hua Hin that is one of the worst costwise and far to overated with inflated prices. 

32 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

I suggest you read a bit more as you obviously have no idea about these things.

I'll take that under advisement. 

On 9/25/2025 at 3:59 PM, morrobay said:

Those photos are Jomtiem. Repair ? Look I don't have the patience to school folks who are oblivious to the endless city/contractors concrete kick backed projects cabal going on in this area. That lost the Europeans along Pattaya beach. Maybe educate yourself on the Pattaya sup forum- because you sure need it. And by the way how is the Phuket travel business going. And while your trying to catch up here. Searches for Nha Trang and Da Nang are assigned.

 

I have absolutely no interest in what goes on in Pattaya/Jomtien, I let the rif raf get on with it, I was there for half a day once and left as fast as I could. 

 

You wrote: "And by the way how is the Phuket travel business going."

 

What travel business,?I do not have a travel business, where did you get that from?

 

$ to baht graph below. Horrible slide from April but at the far right end is that Freddie climbing out of the crypt?

 

 

 

On 9/24/2025 at 8:16 AM, Mason45 said:

The Thai baht changed dramatically 6-8 weeks after the coup. When Yingluck was PM I was getting 33.5 baht per Aussie dollar, now I'm lucky if I get 21 baht. Of course foreign currencies fluctuate but there is no apparent reason why overseas currencies dropped 30%. When I was getting 33.5 I'm sure the UK pound was 84 and the US dollar was 40 plus.

It all depends on the timeframe. When I came to live in Thailand more than 30 years ago 1USD was always 25 Baht, the rate was fixed. 

7 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

The Baht is artificially kept high. Let it float and see what it goes to. It wont be 31.9 of that I am sure

It was once fixed to the USD at 25 Baht. Nowadays it is not artificially kept high.

 

Table Data - Thai Baht to U.S. Dollar Spot Exchange Rate 1981-2025

 

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/data/EXTHUS

On 9/25/2025 at 11:11 AM, JamesPhuket10 said:

 

 

Phuket is reassuringly expensive and so the riff raff stay away. 

 

 

You mean like the naked mgic mushroom seller in Bangla Road.

 

Yep.....no riff-raff in Phuket 😂

11 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

You mean like the naked mgic mushroom seller in Bangla Road.

 

Yep.....no riff-raff in Phuket 😂

 

Some riff raff types creep in through the cracks.

 

I bet this is a daily occurrence in Pattaya. 😄

 

19 hours ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

 

 

I bet this is a daily occurrence in Pattaya. 😄

 

 

It isn’t….,.😁

On 9/26/2025 at 10:07 PM, msbkk said:

It was once fixed to the USD at 25 Baht. Nowadays it is not artificially kept high.

It also hit over 60 at one time as well. It is and if you read the papers you will see that the BoT is trying to maintain the level

9 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

It also hit over 60 at one time as well. It is and if you read the papers you will see that the BoT is trying to maintain the level

Yes, the low 25 and high 60 were both not really justified. It is difficult to say what should be a correct level, Thailand also imports lots of things and for imports the Baht should be strong. For tourism it should be low. The BOT can manage only minor adjustments, the value of every currency is always a result of the underlying economy and no central bank can change that level much in the long term.

A post with excessive usage of ALL CAPS has been removed:

• Do not post text with all capital letters or with over-sized fonts, all bold font, non-standard fonts, colored fonts or unusually large emojis.

17 hours ago, msbkk said:

Yes, the low 25 and high 60 were both not really justified. It is difficult to say what should be a correct level, Thailand also imports lots of things and for imports the Baht should be strong. For tourism it should be low. The BOT can manage only minor adjustments, the value of every currency is always a result of the underlying economy and no central bank can change that level much in the long term.

To some extent I agree with you but the level was in response to the market. That is hat pushed the rate to a high level. The Thai Baht is not a strong currency unlike say the USD so it is more subjected to market forces.