The Good 'ol Dollar

[NovaBlue05]

No. I figure a good dollar rate is 45 baht to the dollar, like it was a couple of years ago. I had some money sent over when it was 35 baht and I figure I lost about 50,000 baht because of the rate...

Yeah, I figure my house should be worth what it was a couple of years ago. I guess those short term phenomena are all just passing pleasures

[Heng]

Not to mention late January 1998 with the USD at ~55 THB. Those were the days (for foreigners, not for the Thais )

Most Thai exporters and those with businesses and overseas revenue sources were indeed laughin'. Those who invested those funds and prepared for a possible swing back the other way are still laughin'.

5-5-5

(that was just a light chuckle though...)

Edited May 13, 2008 by Heng

[Seizhin]

Have lost about 6 digits (per year) of our income due to the fall of USD.

Price of oils, food and other stuff are increasing, and income are also decreasing.

Edited May 13, 2008 by Seizhin

[Heng]

Quick as a hiccup, these things can go either way.

[pampal]

I would be happy with 38-40 baht per dollar

[jimmi]

I hope so, 38-40 would be great!

[jumnien]

If the dollar returns to its long-standing rate of 25/$ I'll remain living here in Thailand enjoying a more modest material life in this wonderful buddhist country. If the dollar rallies to 45/$ I'll be forces to get back in the ultimately exasperating game of acquiring more condos, more land, more Thai stocks, etc. The thought sickens me.

[LaoPo]

Have lost about 6 digits (per year) of our income due to the fall of USD.

Would that be Baht 100,000 or USD 100,000 ?

The first would be something which could be 'swallowed', if you're talking 'we'; 50K Baht/person.

If it's the latter it's a lot more pain I suppose.

LaoPo

[jumnien]

It's clearly cheaper living here in Thailand now with the dollar lower. We just bring enough over to live and that's it now. And we import our toys (boats and sport planes) from the US, so the exchange rate doesn't matter. Before, we brought over a lot more dollars and got caught up in buying condos, land, etc.

[geriatrickid]

No. I figure a good dollar rate is 45 baht to the dollar, like it was a couple of years ago. I had some money sent over when it was 35 baht and I figure I lost about 50,000 baht because of the rate...

no such thing like USD/THB 45 "a couple of years ago". it's ~SEVEN years since a dollar fetched 45 Baht.

You're kinda right. Not a couple of years ago, but not seven either. More like 5 years ago...

On May 14, the Interbank rate for USD to THB was;

1995 - 24.72

1996 - 25.25

1997 - 26.050

1998 - 38.80

1999 - 37.15

2000 - 38.92

2001 - 45.51

2002 - 42.88

2003 - 42.43

2004 - 40.84

2005 - 39.71

2006 - 37.97

2007 - 33.05

2008 - 32.51

My first big spending event in Thailand was circa 1995. I'm still better off then way back then.

Source Oanda.com

[lordofdelusion]

Not too much to get excited about at under 33THB to the $. Over 33, that leaves the possibility open for a run to 38. The USD has undergone such an orderly selloff in recent years that one should expect overhead resistance at almost every level. The best argument it's got going for it is that most, if not all the other currencies are pretty shitty too.

Curious, what do you base that on? What's magic about 33? At the rate things are going, 33 will be here in the next week. 38 would be sweet!

[longball53098]

I saw a write up in the morning on line Nation that the BOT said this rise or weakening of the baht to the USD is only temporary,,,,,,,,,,a few months at best,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[jumnien]

If the Nation says down, then it's going up for sure!

[jumnien]

If the Nation says down, then it's going up for sure!

[lannarebirth]

Not too much to get excited about at under 33THB to the $. Over 33, that leaves the possibility open for a run to 38. The USD has undergone such an orderly selloff in recent years that one should expect overhead resistance at almost every level. The best argument it's got going for it is that most, if not all the other currencies are pretty shitty too.

Curious, what do you base that on? What's magic about 33? At the rate things are going, 33 will be here in the next week. 38 would be sweet!

Just a quick observation of this extremely crude chart. I think resistance is a littler higher than that actually, but since the onshore/offshore mess, the data is all messed up.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=USDTHB=X&a...&q=l&c=

Edited May 14, 2008 by lannarebirth

[toptuan]

Mods, why not merge with US Dollar Strengthens thread?

[lordofdelusion]

If the Nation says down, then it's going up for sure!

It's funny because I was going to post the same thing. I've been here about 22 months now and follow the financials closely. I can't remember a time someone in the Thai government or banking industry made a correct prediction. Uncanny. Very recently when the Baht was 31.24 and the Set was 850, the paper reported that the Baht would strengthen to 30.5 and the Set would hit 900. Wrong again!!!