Foreign Capital Leaving Thailand 'in Certain Amount': Bot

[george]

Foreign capital leaving Thailand 'in certain amount': BoT

BANGKOK: -- Bank of Thailand Assistant Governor Suchada Kirakul on Tuesday conceded that "a certain amount" of foreign capital had flowed out of the country following a heavy selling of shares by foreign investors in the stock market.

She said the weakening of the baht this week resulted from currency exchanges to take US dollar-denominated currency out of the country.

At present, she said, the capital movement in the stock market is seeing a net outflow while investment in bonds continues to flow in because local interest rates stay high.

"We have not yet taken any action to supervise the baht's value because the currency has not weakened so rapidly.

"The baht intervention will be adopted only when the currency is too strong and weak. Now, it is unnecessary to take the measure since the baht still moves up and down normally," she said.

Mrs. Suchada said the ongoing foreign capital outflow remained not worrying because the capital had flown into the country in a huge amount in the past several years.

Currently, the country had been engulfed with political and economic woes. So, it is normal to see a certain amount of capital flow out of the country, she added.

-- TNA 2008-05-04

[Boater]

Any economic wizz kids out there can give the real lowdown?

[marquess]

Any economic wizz kids out there can give the real lowdown?

There is a letter in the printed version of todays Bangkok Post, which gives an insight or at least a partial one.

[thaigene2]

Now that's interesting - and of course under-reported as usual. No follow-ups, etc. Swept under the carpet - because it's negative about thailand.

[Briggsy]

Was this connected to Thaksin's semi-frozen assets?

[h90]

Was this connected to Thaksin's semi-frozen assets?

on this assets there is a battle at the moment.

Friends of Toxin want to release it.

the others want to seize it

[thaigene2]

Was this connected to Thaksin's semi-frozen assets?

on this assets there is a battle at the moment.

Friends of Toxin want to release it.

the others want to seize it

Much of his money is already gone. How do you think he bought a football team AFTER the Coup? Ever wonder why the coupmakers didn't freeze his assets as one of their first little "announcements"?? I wonder how much Thaksin had to give up to ensure the transfers - 10%? 30%? Doubt we'll ever know.

[jaidam]

Was this connected to Thaksin's semi-frozen assets?

on this assets there is a battle at the moment.

Friends of Toxin want to release it.

the others want to seize it

Much of his money is already gone. How do you think he bought a football team AFTER the Coup? Ever wonder why the coupmakers didn't freeze his assets as one of their first little "announcements"?? I wonder how much Thaksin had to give up to ensure the transfers - 10%? 30%? Doubt we'll ever know.

I think he bought a football team, lots of property(and also the recent election) thanks to his concealed overseas funds from when he was PM. I'm sure you remember the concealed assets fiasco when your boy first took over as PM.

Having said that it seems likely that his assets are currently being handed back, comments recently by Noppadol suggest just that.

[Plus]

Much of his money is already gone. How do you think he bought a football team AFTER the Coup? Ever wonder why the coupmakers didn't freeze his assets as one of their first little "announcements"?? I wonder how much Thaksin had to give up to ensure the transfers - 10%? 30%? Doubt we'll ever know.

Hard to believe. He bought the club BEFORE funds were frozen - the money and price were already finalised, only formalities left.

[Old Man River]

Any economic wizz kids out there can give the real lowdown?

Hardly a whiz kid, but it is fund managers taking profits. Happens all the time. In and out, in and out. This is why it is called hot money.

[thaigene2]

Much of his money is already gone. How do you think he bought a football team AFTER the Coup? Ever wonder why the coupmakers didn't freeze his assets as one of their first little "announcements"?? I wonder how much Thaksin had to give up to ensure the transfers - 10%? 30%? Doubt we'll ever know.

Hard to believe. He bought the club BEFORE funds were frozen - the money and price were already finalised, only formalities left.

I don't think it's true that it was all done a dusted prior to the coup (though frankly I don't care) - but you didn't answer the question. "Ever wonder why the coupmakers didn't freeze his assets as one of their first little "announcements"??"

And "Jaidam" he's not "my boy" (though maybe he could be yours? Or you could be his?) - I think the guy's a shit - though a clever one...my beef is with those who are willing to sacrifice the first chance the rest of this country has ever had at a 'populist' government - as corrupt as it may be - to return it to the 'old order' of patronage, guanxi, feudalism. I think I know which side is the right side in that argument - and it ain't Thaksin - but it IS populism as much as that scares the shit out of the elites -and unfeathers some of the nests of the 'old asia hands' on this site.

Funny how The Economist, the FCCT, the BBC, and every other quality news organization is wrong - but you "old Thai hands" are right?

[h90]

Was this connected to Thaksin's semi-frozen assets?

on this assets there is a battle at the moment.

Friends of Toxin want to release it.

the others want to seize it

Much of his money is already gone. How do you think he bought a football team AFTER the Coup? Ever wonder why the coupmakers didn't freeze his assets as one of their first little "announcements"?? I wonder how much Thaksin had to give up to ensure the transfers - 10%? 30%? Doubt we'll ever know.

people are cheaper...think of 2-5 %

[Plus]

Much of his money is already gone. How do you think he bought a football team AFTER the Coup? Ever wonder why the coupmakers didn't freeze his assets as one of their first little "announcements"?? I wonder how much Thaksin had to give up to ensure the transfers - 10%? 30%? Doubt we'll ever know.

Hard to believe. He bought the club BEFORE funds were frozen - the money and price were already finalised, only formalities left.

I don't think it's true that it was all done a dusted prior to the coup (though frankly I don't care) - but you didn't answer the question. "Ever wonder why the coupmakers didn't freeze his assets as one of their first little "announcements"??"

One of the first questions was - can he buy a club with funds frozen? The answer was that the money was already out of the country and passed through the necessary checks, and people and companies backing Thai side of the deal didn't rely on frozen funds at all. There was a company called "Thai Sport Investment" or somesuch.

Don't believe me - check the first twenty pages of "Thaksin completes Man City deal" thread, I might be wrong in details but in principle this is how it happened.

As for your question - ever considered "the junta is not evil" answer? They followed legal procedures to avoid post 1991 coup experience when the courts simply overturned freezing orders as illegal.

the first chance the rest of this country has ever had at a 'populist' government - as corrupt as it may be - to return it to the 'old order' of patronage, guanxi, feudalism.

And it blew it because Thaksin's order of "new patronage" was even worse.

Funny how The Economist, the FCCT, the BBC, and every other quality news organization is wrong - but you "old Thai hands" are right?

No, it's you who are wrong to think that The Economist, FCCT(?) and the BBC support your "democracy vs feudalism" line of arguing.

Why do you have to bring this matter in every thread, btw?

[thaigene2]

Because everything else is just a smokescreen. Do you really think they care about Thaksin and corruption? It's the pandora's box he opened that scares them the most. It's why so many books that try to broach the whole topic get banned here - under the excuse that it could offend the highest office. PPP and PAD are puppets.

[younghusband]

No, it's you who are wrong to think that The Economist, FCCT(?) and the BBC support your "democracy vs feudalism" line of arguing.

Why do you have to bring this matter in every thread, btw?

Because this is not Nazi Germany and it's important that well informed and internationally respected organisations, without an axe to grind, are in counterpoise with apologists for discrimination and repression.Interesting and revealing that you threw in the reference to the FCCT.Again we have the weird phenonomen that some resident foreigners believe that this coun try is incapable of being interprested properly by outsiders and even the most prestigious foreign commentators just don't get what is going on in Thailand.Even itinerant visa runners make posts (I am thinking of one recent example) to the effect that high quality foreign correspondents are just Bangkok based and never venture out to the boondocks.

[hammered]

No, it's you who are wrong to think that The Economist, FCCT(?) and the BBC support your "democracy vs feudalism" line of arguing.

Why do you have to bring this matter in every thread, btw?

Because this is not Nazi Germany and it's important that well informed and internationally respected organisations, without an axe to grind, are in counterpoise with apologists for discrimination and repression.Interesting and revealing that you threw in the reference to the FCCT.Again we have the weird phenonomen that some resident foreigners believe that this coun try is incapable of being interprested properly by outsiders and even the most prestigious foreign commentators just don't get what is going on in Thailand.Even itinerant visa runners make posts (I am thinking of one recent example) to the effect that high quality foreign correspondents are just Bangkok based and never venture out to the boondocks.

Sometimes in life it is easier to see a general picture of what is happening in a situation when away from the fray and unaffected personally or emotionally by it. However, at this distance it is more difficult to see the precise detail and how it will affect, and to some degree the precise detail would not interest the distant disconnected but informed observer. Its a bit like it is often easier to form a reaslisitc opinion about your own country when living abroad and unaffected by the day to day stuff.

Personally, I wouldnt totally dis the foreign news media opinions on Thailand or those local ones or those of individuals such as us, and of course our own perosnal experience is important too. Every comment is worth considering when trying to make an informed decision. It is just that one needs to keep the connection or lack of it in mind when assessing what is being said and trying to weigh strengths and weaknesses of each opinion. Context and perspective become very important in this, and controlling our emotional reactions is not easy either.

We should also remember that when refering to Thailand, as certain issues are tabboo, that sometimes paople including even foreign news media reporters or academics use words as code and a deeper read of what is being said is needed, but I shoudl probably stop there.

All imho of course and I make my share of mistakes in getting things wrong and weighting too highly that which I shouldnt.

[thaigene2]

At least we're actually having the discussion - and I agree with you that sometimes it's easier to see the entire forest than just a few rotten trees if you remain a few steps behind the screaming mob running into the woods.