Finance Minister Wants 5% Baht Devaluation

[junkofdavid2]

Suchart: Baht devaluation can help exports

Finance Minister Suchart Thadathamrongvej said he would like the baht currency to depreciate by five per cent to help stimulate the export sector and shoulder the economy in 2009.

The economic growth for next year should stay at four percent or lower while the export growth would be no more than 10 percent due to the global economic crisis, he said.

The minister said he will discuss the devaluation of Thai baht with Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaipravat, who is in charge of overseeing the national economy.

However, Bank of Thailand (BoT) governor Tarisa Watanagase said the central bank will carry on keeping the value of Thai baht to be in line with other regional currencies.

She said foreign investors were selling off their shares to support their mother companies in Europe and the United States, causing the Thai currency to weaken.

According to the BoT chief, keeping the value of baht to the same level as other currencies in Asia would not cause Thai exporters to be at a disadvantage. However, they should adjust themselves by expanding and improving their investments.

The baht on Monday was little changed at around 34.4 per US dollar.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=131529

[Soutpeel]

She said foreign investors were selling off their shares to support their mother companies in Europe and the United States, causing the Thai currency to weaken.

Blame the foreigners again...(although on this one they may be right)

[thaimate]

my brother who has a factory at the eastern seaboard trading estate ,says many foreign companys are closing down and relocating to other countries ,as Thailand is becoming to expensive to operate in.

maybe the baht needs to come down

[cloudhopper]

Another entrant in The Great Race To The Bottom.

[VegasVic]

She said foreign investors were selling off their shares to support their mother companies in Europe and the United States, causing the Thai currency to weaken.

Blame the foreigners again...(although on this one they may be right)

They are right this time! Foreign redemtions on the SET and the pullback in foreign investment in the export and real estate sector has put very strong pressure on the Thai baht. With that said it was the inflow of foreign funds three years ago that caused the baht to strengthen so much in such a short period of time! You don't really think that the baht skyrocketed over these past three years because of a dynamic economy and a stable government, do you? The worm has turned here and the BOT is feverishly selling its dollar reserves to try and tread water against the Dollar and prop up the baht. How much longer they will be able to do this will be interesting to see, but until they throw in the towel I would expect that times will get tougher and tougher for Aussie, Brit, and European expats as their home currencies take a hit vs. the Dollar.

[JimsKnight]

That's ok cause we are a resilient and bloody-minded enough to ride this one out.

I've allowed for 55 to the £ so anything above that is just dandy.

Anything below that means the entertainment and travel funds take a hit.

[VegasVic]

That's ok cause we are a resilient and bloody-minded enough to ride this one out.

I've allowed for 55 to the £ so anything above that is just dandy.

Anything below that means the entertainment and travel funds take a hit.

J.K., I think that your travel and entertainment funds should be safe for a while, I would imagine that the Pound will settle in somewhere around 56-57baht/Pound

[chiang mai]

That's ok cause we are a resilient and bloody-minded enough to ride this one out.

I've allowed for 55 to the £ so anything above that is just dandy.

Anything below that means the entertainment and travel funds take a hit.

Then you had better prepare to take that hit soon, unfortunately, because Sterling fell almost eight cents against USD overnight and that pushed the Baht to 56. All of this it seems simply because the BOE Governor stated the obvious regarding recession in the UK - I cannot imagine what will happen to the Pound once a series of interest rate cuts take hold, anyone for the 30's again?

[Marksamui]

That's ok cause we are a resilient and bloody-minded enough to ride this one out.

I've allowed for 55 to the £ so anything above that is just dandy.

Anything below that means the entertainment and travel funds take a hit.

J.K., I think that your travel and entertainment funds should be safe for a while, I would imagine that the Pound will settle in somewhere around 56-57baht/Pound

Last time I checked it was already at 56.9 - It was above 60 on Monday. Huge drops at the moment in the GBP. Against the Dollar now 1.65, most say can bottom out at 1.60. That would indicate that it is going to drop further against the Baht with the BoT trying to keep the THB/USD rate stable.

I cannot see many Brits coming to Thailand anytime soon. The rate is generally around 65 so over a 10% drop in the exchange rate with sometimes stupid prices in Thailand, means that the Land of Smiles is now just to expensive for a lot of people.........

Property must drop in Thailand next year......

[chiang mai]

That's ok cause we are a resilient and bloody-minded enough to ride this one out.

I've allowed for 55 to the £ so anything above that is just dandy.

Anything below that means the entertainment and travel funds take a hit.

J.K., I think that your travel and entertainment funds should be safe for a while, I would imagine that the Pound will settle in somewhere around 56-57baht/Pound

Last time I checked it was already at 56.9 - It was above 60 on Monday. Huge drops at the moment in the GBP. Against the Dollar now 1.65, most say can bottom out at 1.60. That would indicate that it is going to drop further against the Baht with the BoT trying to keep the THB/USD rate stable.

I cannot see many Brits coming to Thailand anytime soon. The rate is generally around 65 so over a 10% drop in the exchange rate with sometimes stupid prices in Thailand, means that the Land of Smiles is now just to expensive for a lot of people.........

Property must drop in Thailand next year......

I imagined there would be a string of beautiful young ladies waiting outside my front door when I opened it this morning, alas I was incorrect.

[samuibeachcomber]

please tell the finance minister from me devaluation of the baht is a great idea,but make it 10% and quick!

[cmsally]

The pound and the Euro seem to be taking a further beating today. Cash GBP already down to 55.

If the BOT is expecting tourism to drag Thailand out of the mess then they had better hope that Asians and Americans fill the void.

[Marksamui]

That's ok cause we are a resilient and bloody-minded enough to ride this one out.

I've allowed for 55 to the £ so anything above that is just dandy.

Anything below that means the entertainment and travel funds take a hit.

J.K., I think that your travel and entertainment funds should be safe for a while, I would imagine that the Pound will settle in somewhere around 56-57baht/Pound

Last time I checked it was already at 56.9 - It was above 60 on Monday. Huge drops at the moment in the GBP. Against the Dollar now 1.65, most say can bottom out at 1.60. That would indicate that it is going to drop further against the Baht with the BoT trying to keep the THB/USD rate stable.

I cannot see many Brits coming to Thailand anytime soon. The rate is generally around 65 so over a 10% drop in the exchange rate with sometimes stupid prices in Thailand, means that the Land of Smiles is now just to expensive for a lot of people.........

Property must drop in Thailand next year......

I imagined there would be a string of beautiful young ladies waiting outside my front door when I opened it this morning, alas I was incorrect.

Sorry I don't understand the point that you are tryig to make. You don't agree with something in my previous post?

[chiang mai]

Here's a useful site link for anyone wanting to understand the direction of GBP/USD and the market views thereof.

http://www.fxstreet.com/rates-charts/curre...aspx?id=GBP/USD

As I write it's headed for 63!

[chiang mai]

That's ok cause we are a resilient and bloody-minded enough to ride this one out.

I've allowed for 55 to the £ so anything above that is just dandy.

Anything below that means the entertainment and travel funds take a hit.

J.K., I think that your travel and entertainment funds should be safe for a while, I would imagine that the Pound will settle in somewhere around 56-57baht/Pound

Last time I checked it was already at 56.9 - It was above 60 on Monday. Huge drops at the moment in the GBP. Against the Dollar now 1.65, most say can bottom out at 1.60. That would indicate that it is going to drop further against the Baht with the BoT trying to keep the THB/USD rate stable.

I cannot see many Brits coming to Thailand anytime soon. The rate is generally around 65 so over a 10% drop in the exchange rate with sometimes stupid prices in Thailand, means that the Land of Smiles is now just to expensive for a lot of people.........

Property must drop in Thailand next year......

I imagined there would be a string of beautiful young ladies waiting outside my front door when I opened it this morning, alas I was incorrect.

Sorry I don't understand the point that you are tryig to make. You don't agree with something in my previous post?

Just a light hearted dig at the idea of 1.60 as a bottom.

[VegasVic]

Here's a useful site link for anyone wanting to understand the direction of GBP/USD and the market views thereof.

http://www.fxstreet.com/rates-charts/curre...aspx?id=GBP/USD

As I write it's headed for 63!

C.M. I just checked out the opening trading in asia and saw the Pound down to $1.64 already (and the Euro is at $1.29), this thing is dropping like a stone Is Oil dropping in asia as well or is this just a Dollar strengthening story?

[VegasVic]

That's ok cause we are a resilient and bloody-minded enough to ride this one out.

I've allowed for 55 to the £ so anything above that is just dandy.

Anything below that means the entertainment and travel funds take a hit.

J.K., I think that your travel and entertainment funds should be safe for a while, I would imagine that the Pound will settle in somewhere around 56-57baht/Pound

Sorry for giving you false hope Jim I knew this whole Dollar/Euro and Dollar/Pound situation was way overdone the past couple of years but I didn't think that it would unwind this quickly! If Oil is not falling substantially in Asia currently then I would expect that it will fall hard when the markets in Europe open.

[VegasVic]

Here's a useful site link for anyone wanting to understand the direction of GBP/USD and the market views thereof.

http://www.fxstreet.com/rates-charts/curre...aspx?id=GBP/USD

As I write it's headed for 63!

C.M. I just checked out the opening trading in asia and saw the Pound down to $1.64 already (and the Euro is at $1.29), this thing is dropping like a stone Is Oil dropping in asia as well or is this just a Dollar strengthening story?

OK, I see the Yen at 99 so this must have something to do with the next leg of the unwinding of the Yen carry trade. Trading in Europe sure will be interesting today, I may have to stay up all night just to see what the fallout is!

[chiang mai]

Here's a useful site link for anyone wanting to understand the direction of GBP/USD and the market views thereof.

http://www.fxstreet.com/rates-charts/curre...aspx?id=GBP/USD

As I write it's headed for 63!

C.M. I just checked out the opening trading in asia and saw the Pound down to $1.64 already (and the Euro is at $1.29), this thing is dropping like a stone Is Oil dropping in asia as well or is this just a Dollar strengthening story?

$50 a barrel, here we come.

[VegasVic]

Here's a useful site link for anyone wanting to understand the direction of GBP/USD and the market views thereof.

http://www.fxstreet.com/rates-charts/curre...aspx?id=GBP/USD

As I write it's headed for 63!

C.M. I just checked out the opening trading in asia and saw the Pound down to $1.64 already (and the Euro is at $1.29), this thing is dropping like a stone Is Oil dropping in asia as well or is this just a Dollar strengthening story?

$50 a barrel, here we come.

$40/bbl is not out of the question, if the N.E. part of the U.S. has a mild winter!

[Bengt]

If the THB could stop to hook on the USD.....dont know why they doing this..and subsidize the fuel whith 4,7 THB but that will end in Jan 2009.

Many got the opinion that Thailand seems very rich.. and BOT supports USD but I wonder for how long..

Most of the tourist get less for their money here now exept US so maybe Thailand want to have more tourists from US in the future but I wonder how big loss of tourists that Thailand will have this highseason.

[junkofdavid2]

Baht hits 35 to a USD ???

SCB closing yesterday:

Bank Selling: 35.17

Bank Buying: 34.92

The median is above 35...

[Naam]

Baht hits 35 to a USD ???

SCB closing yesterday:

Bank Selling: 35.17

Bank Buying: 34.92

The median is above 35...

the link to SCB (below) shows at 20.59 hours:

transfer 34.92 / cash [50/100] 34.64 / cash [5-20] 34.20

http://www.scb.co.th/html/exchange/31102008_205900.htm

[Livinginexile]

Baht hits 35 to a USD ???

SCB closing yesterday:

Bank Selling: 35.17

Bank Buying: 34.92

The median is above 35...

the link to SCB (below) shows at 20.59 hours:

transfer 34.92 / cash [50/100] 34.64 / cash [5-20] 34.20

http://www.scb.co.th/html/exchange/31102008_205900.htm

Fabulous !!

Go the buck...

[junkofdavid2]

TT Bank selling (left side) is 35.17.

TT Bank buying (right side) is 34.92

But it's easy to confuse the buying and selling columns because the selling column only has 2 sub-columns but the buying column has 4 sub-columns... so some of the buying columns on the right look like they're part of the selling columns but they're not.

I compare TT to TT on both sides because they seem to always have the smallest spread, and then I get the median.

[PeaceBlondie]

We just got 34.96:$1 at 15:29 today, clearly on the way into the mid 35's.

[Naam]

I compare TT to TT on both sides because they seem to always have the smallest spread, and then I get the median.

crossing the median without making a U-turn is quite dangerous because of the oncoming traffic