Currency Rates

[barryloei]

Can anyone explain why the baht is so strong against the pound , about 6 months ago it was in the region of 70 to the pound now its as low as 56 , all economies are in trouble and with the political turmoil in thailand it just does not make sense , could someone please enlighten me . many thanks .

[zorro1]

I don't think anyone really knows. My income is in Oz dollars so hurting right now

[Sparkles]

I don't think anyone really knows. My income is in Oz dollars so hurting right now

Likewise. Aus dollar was 22/23 yesterday to the Thai baht and I yet to have an explanation from anyone why the US dollar retains its value and the Oz dollar is disappearing and the Thai baht is so strong

I want to buy some air tickets next week and usually draw down via the ATM from my few savings sitting in an OZ bank as the interest rate here is pathetic. Bringing the money will mean the tickets will cost 30 percent more .

Anyone out there have any ideas how we can protect ourselves ????

[glyph]

"I don't think anyone really knows."

Oh, please. A country's exchange rate is based upon the perception of the strength of a country's economy, which includes the perception of the strength of a country's major trade partners.

[terrier123]

"I don't think anyone really knows."

Oh, please. A country's exchange rate is based upon the perception of the strength of a country's economy, which includes the perception of the strength of a country's major trade partners.

DUNNO but it's also causing a lot of damage to the Thai economy. It's obvious that most of us on a fixed pension had greater spending power when we enjoyed higher exchange rates. Now I have to watch every penny along with our Oz cousins. If they upped our exchange rate then we would spend more. Another post mentioned trying to get yer spouse to understand the cuts -- nah waste of time. Just pop out to the money tree AGAIN.

[mahtin]

They want our dollars, pounds and euros, and they pay us just as little as they can get away with.

Farang buying, Thai selling.

Thai wins.

[bendix]

Dear oh dear . . you really don't have a clue about the dynamics of exchange rates, do you?

Are you seriously suggesting the plunging pound and Oz dollar against the baht is some kind of scam?

With this kind of financial sophistication so prevalent, it's no wonder things are in such a mess now.

[Naam]

Dear oh dear . . you really don't have a clue about the dynamics of exchange rates, do you?

Are you seriously suggesting the plunging pound and Oz dollar against the baht is some kind of scam?

With this kind of financial sophistication so prevalent, it's no wonder things are in such a mess now.

is it not?

[ubonjoe]

Can anyone explain why the baht is so strong against the pound , about 6 months ago it was in the region of 70 to the pound now its as low as 56 , all economies are in trouble and with the political turmoil in thailand it just does not make sense , could someone please enlighten me . many thanks .

Take a look at what the pound to the dollar has done. Over $2 and down to $1.70 now.

The dollar is the bechmark currency for the baht. So if you get less pounds for the dollar you get less baht to the pound. Same applies to any currency.

[mahtin]

Dear oh dear . . you really don't have a clue about the dynamics of exchange rates, do you?

NO!

And I am not responsible for the current financial situation either.

The OP was looking for enlightenment, not sneering.

[mumbojumbo]

The Thai gov. can freeze the baht, like the Chinese do to there money. Last time the baht was allowed to float was

back in 97 if i remember, and US $ went from 25 to 57 in no time, it came back to 41 quickly and stayed there for a

while. The politicians that orchestrated the float made big money. This was before Talksin, but he was probably privy

to it. Stock tip: buy in companies that make safes. People world wide are worried about there banks and want cash

at home. More burglaries coming. Mason jars with a GPS secure map another option in south 40, or backyard.

[junki3korean]

I don't think anyone really knows. My income is in Oz dollars so hurting right now

$1 AUD = 22.7282 THB .........im in pain!

Edited October 11, 2008 by junki3korean

[junki3korean]

we aussies are lossing a good 6 to 800 baht....for every $100AUD we change is really bad....lowest i`ve ever seen.

[rick75]

I was in Bkk buying stock last week, with the crap Aussie dollar and the price of gold it was like a double hit, I was there 3 months ago and I think I got 32.50 baht to the Au dollar, in the 10 days i was in Bkk the Au dollar fell from 28.50 down to 24.50, I too struggle to figure out how the Au dollar is falling so rapidly against every other currency.

[JetsetBkk]

Dear oh dear . . you really don't have a clue about the dynamics of exchange rates, do you?

NO!

And I am not responsible for the current financial situation either.

The OP was looking for enlightenment, not sneering.

It would be nice if Bendix explained it all to us.

[jubby]

The Interest Rate seems to have a lot of effect on Currency exchanges. Didn't Thailand announce they were keeping the interest rate on hold a few days ago, just before most of the rest of the world cut them. Are they in a stronger position than the rest of the world or is it a 'head in the sand' situation. A cut would make more sense to me, but what do I know. Can you imagine what would happen to your own currency if a top general in your own country started calling for a coup .

I'm stumped ;-)

[chiang mai]

The Chinese government is buying Baht.

[john b good]

I am not feeling so bad now with 10M Baht in the bank here. Won't have to import for a little while

I had been thinking that I would have to repatriate some dosh back home.

[zorro1]

I am not feeling so bad now with 10M Baht in the bank here. Won't have to import for a little while

I had been thinking that I would have to repatriate some dosh back home.

How? lets say you want to send 50% back home. From what i understand In Los you have to change currency here via T/T. That would be a major dump in conversion. Other option is to take 5 mill with you in a few suitcases . Hope I'm wrong as I also need to convert bht to Aus in near future. By the way T/T converted in oz is around aud 42/1000bht yesterday

[ThaiPauly]

I am not feeling so bad now with 10M Baht in the bank here. Won't have to import for a little while

I trust you have your money in LOS is earning you good interest?

[waza]

My understanding is the economy in Aus is too good, the interest rates are high, the banks are well regulated and unemployement is low, relatively speaking. Therefore, we are considered a high risk of, decreasing interest rates, employment ect. Which means a poor investment risk. So no one wants the aussie dollar, hence it is artificially deflating. The opposite can be said of the US and they have very little room left to move, just look what there dollar is worth. Hope this helps.

Edited October 11, 2008 by waza

[thailand_tom]

Can anyone explain why the baht is so strong against the pound , about 6 months ago it was in the region of 70 to the pound now its as low as 56 , all economies are in trouble and with the political turmoil in thailand it just does not make sense , could someone please enlighten me . many thanks .

i was just reading a post were the baht will go to 30 to usd and someone was saying pound was 70 fx is showing 56 and fx is the high..usd is 34.4 on fx that is the high..just one more reason not to go to thailand, they keep talking about getting tourists and investers to buy real estate in thailand..not cheap..cheaper for me here in us..cheaper real estate also i can buy a house on ebay for less then 10,000 usd..bidding on 2 right now for 5,000 usd..i see the classifieds on this website real estate and business just keep going up..good luck in trying to sell..way over priced..i think like 1205 real estate now was 700 maybe 6 months ago and business way up also..good luck..glad i came back home.

[Huey]

They want our dollars, pounds and euros, and they pay us just as little as they can get away with.

Farang buying, Thai selling.

Thai wins.

Wrong Thai Looses. Ask any Thai exporter (seller) which he would rather have, a strong baht or a strong dollar and see what he says.

[tijnebijn]

The reason the BOT did not cut interest rates is because of the political situation .

Its not very wise to cut interest rates in such turmoil .

Normally if the situation stabilises , a quick rate cut is likely , they will go support economic growth ,

which means the BOT should let the currency go slightly weaker , if not the market

eventually will stabilise itself . When inflation is right , guess they will no longer intervene .

We all should look at the resistance point in Dollar - baht which is 34.80 ( approx ) , its possible it

will go down to 39 to the dollar , if it brakes through it a bit further , so a rate cut may do that trick .

But its all shaky anyway when talking about exchange rates .....

[Chaimai]

Hindsight is wonderful, let's start a few recent "what ifs":

A couple of months back I sold Sterling (to buy rice quoted in USD) @ $2 to the £1. I should have had the forsight to buy another £10,000 = £20,000 which today at 34.4 would give 688,000 Baht versus 590,000 Baht for my Sterling NOW. A gain of almost 100,000 baht !

Then again, if my Auntie Betty had b*llocks she would have been my Uncle Bill

[Super Hans]

The Chinese government is buying Baht.

Do you know why?

[dbrenn]

Dear oh dear . . you really don't have a clue about the dynamics of exchange rates, do you?

NO!

And I am not responsible for the current financial situation either.

The OP was looking for enlightenment, not sneering.

I get tired of Bendix's sneering too. So many of his posts are of a derisive or sarcastic nature, and many come across as pompous grandiosity at someone else's expense. Such a shame that he chooses to snipe and be spiteful, rather than offering anything constructive, insightful or useful to his fellow human beings.

[lifeisrandom]

currency exchange is not that simple

you cant just expect dollar and pound to move same direction as baht always

oil is down so usd is up

pound is down vs usd

[lifeisrandom]

I am not feeling so bad now with 10M Baht in the bank here. Won't have to import for a little while

I had been thinking that I would have to repatriate some dosh back home.

How? lets say you want to send 50% back home. From what i understand In Los you have to change currency here via T/T. That would be a major dump in conversion. Other option is to take 5 mill with you in a few suitcases . Hope I'm wrong as I also need to convert bht to Aus in near future. By the way T/T converted in oz is around aud 42/1000bht yesterday

lol

[roamer]

Can anyone explain why the baht is so strong against the pound , about 6 months ago it was in the region of 70 to the pound now its as low as 56 , all economies are in trouble and with the political turmoil in thailand it just does not make sense , could someone please enlighten me . many thanks .

Straightforward sensible question. Firstly there is very little trade directly sterling-v-baht, or aussie dollar for that matter. Its USD-v-THB that matters. The baht is high, thats related to the amount of baht that is being bought on the foreign exchange markets. Your quite right to point out with all the political turmoil in Thailand it doesn,t make sense for the baht to be so high. The best guess is that the BOT is buying baht and that is keeping the price high, whats certain is that someone is buying baht, some say the Chinese but theres no proof for that.

My own guess, reasoning, call it what you will, is that the BOT is quite aggressively buying baht and that it is not simply an economic reason rather than a political one. There is indeed political turmoil here and in times like these governments want to appear strong and want their currency to appear strong. If that is what they are doing then at times like this its a very risky strategy, very costly strategy. One of the reasons the Aussie dollar is weak at the moment is that their gov has decided there is little point in spending vast amounts trying to prop up the currency when the markets have already decided its weak and they are selling off the currency.

Political turmoil in Thailand, markets quiet, lets sell baht...exchange rate rises. The greatest economic crisis since the 30's and the baht is a side show, a midget currency that its government or speculators can keep high..both for different reasons.

Every reason to believe this week will put the cat amongst the pigeons. As dire as it might be for western economies the attention will certainly shift to those economies that depend on the export markets in the west to survive. The theory that Asia is somehow decoupled from the west has been put to bed, Japan has shown that in its falls...and Japan is far more of an important export market to LOS than it is Europe for example.

To predict anything right now you might as well go tattoo on a soap bubble, ok I'm using a very fine needle but I believe that LOS and its currency is about to take a hit, I said it weeks ago here,

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thailand-Exi...le-t214774.html

At the end of the day I would just sit tight. I don't believe I'm a doomsayer, I simply believe that all the factors are in place for Thailand to take a hit, a megahit....comeon....but if LOS has got to you then you'll believe that despite the fact that the USA, Japan, EU, the IMF, believe we are probably facing the biggest economic crisis ever...the KIngdom will go marching serenely on, cue the song from "Bridge on the River Kwai" :D

Edited October 12, 2008 by roamer