thaimate Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 with all the doom and gloom about i was wondering if us brits especially are pulling in our horns and if we are having to tighten our belts? i know that so far its cost me about 10k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Depends on what kind of expat you are. Do you work here? Do you get paid in Thai Baht, or in your home currency (or US$)... Do you have a business relying on tourism? Or export? Are you retired and drawing a pension in your home country? Currently it's not the recession itself hurting people but the exchange rates (which are a result of several factors, not only a recession!)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaimate Posted November 3, 2008 Author Share Posted November 3, 2008 Depends on what kind of expat you are.Do you work here? Do you get paid in Thai Baht, or in your home currency (or US$)... Do you have a business relying on tourism? Or export? Are you retired and drawing a pension in your home country? Currently it's not the recession itself hurting people but the exchange rates (which are a result of several factors, not only a recession!)... personally,ime here on early retirement ,living on investments ,which have gone down but will not make a massive differance to our lifestyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snuggzzz Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Many good points Monty. I live in the UK, my wife is Thai, we are regular travellers, the exchange rate last year was 70 bht to the pound, in the last week it has gone down to 52 bht. Oil prices have forced up air fares, the 'cheap' holiday to Thailand aren't cheap anymore, I know we all have to 'trim our cloth', but we are on a rollercoaster and, sorry to say, it's only just started to go downhill. I know my friends and family in Thailand and in the UK are starting to feel the pinch, as I am. The local shops are closing here, no new mortgages, no credit, Banks have frozen a lot of accounts and currently withdrawing credit facilities. Genuinely, I do feel that tourism will be affected, not only in Thailand, but around the world. This is a 'Global Reccession', the effects of which will be far reaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyW Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 I know many regular visitors to here that have bank accounts here also, so they transfer money during the "good rate" times and use that for their holidays, that seems to have been working well for them for the last 12 years or so. Flights could become an issue, although not for our visitors this christmas as they booked their flights in the early part of the year - next year could be a different story though? Time will tell.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 (edited) Well as a US person I have been deeply impacted. I am spending less. My retirement accounts are down drastically. I would also be spending less if I lived in the US. Sadly, this is a snowball kind of thing, if most people feel poorer and are poorer, they spend less, causing business contractions and a spiraling downturn. Capitalism is cyclical. This is the bad part of it. And so it goes ... But to brighten it up, you can't have booms without busts. Edited November 3, 2008 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djinn Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 No big change till now -On early retirement ,go back only once a year to Europ.So flight cost is not a real problem -Was lucky.Changed my euro to bahts to have the mandatory 800 000 k bahts at 51 baht per euro.Now have 9 months before any other change -All my assets are in europ.Not a lot in stock exchange for more than a year;Realestate in a country where price were not overestimated.Normally this year will be a zero gain zero loss one.And as the last five ones were very good....... -Only big difference is the crazy thai inflation (food...) Wanted to buy a bigger condo here.Me think there could be a mini crash "1997 style" next year.And there should be no buyer for my actual one now So wait and see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardog Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 I think a worldwide recession has got to affect everyone in different ways. Thailand as cheap as it is is not as cheap as it once was due to price increases of everything. If you are trying to purchase land or a condo many things to contemplate might change the way you play your hand now. It is not just the U.S. Everyone is affected.Unless your sitting on 80 million baht buried in your backyard- to some degree we will all be affected. those who are in or were in the stock market took a whooping , even the ultra rich. In some way it will affect most , even if it only stalls your building plans - it will most certainly affect your way you think unless you are of the super elite or just don't care if you go broke. It is still a bargain here & I would rather be here rather than in the U.S. At least here when you lose even if it is a 20 million baht mansion the loses are meager to what the rest of the world is going through now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterboy Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 Definitely! Sure ain't spending any more than necessary at the moment! Now don't bother going to go-go's or (many) bars. Was in a few in September and apart from the Happy Hour, most places were pretty empty. Food - not buying high-end products any longer and can certainly manage on "normal" things. Buying extra when there are "special offers" is a good thing - it saves a few more baht. Now, if only I can get the girlfriend to do the same thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balo Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Just stay at home and eat your rice . Its cheap and boring. Spending money is just a waste of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaimate Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Definitely! Sure ain't spending any more than necessary at the moment! Now don't bother going to go-go's or (many) bars. Was in a few in September and apart from the Happy Hour, most places were pretty empty. Food - not buying high-end products any longer and can certainly manage on "normal" things. Buying extra when there are "special offers" is a good thing - it saves a few more baht. Now, if only I can get the girlfriend to do the same thing! yes we are starting to cut back on the high end food products as well and my wife is always on the look out for buy one get one free and markdowns ect . plus we are not going out every day and just sold the second car as it wasnever hardly ever used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaDavid Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 I think that for us Americans, the recession has almost worked in reverse for us living in Thailand. Yes, the prices have gone up, but the dollar had been down for several years now and is currently making a modest comeback and helps to lessen the blow. As far as home prices go, the prices of homes have dropped drastically in the United States, but I don't see any reasonable decrease in homes or condos here in Thailand considering that we are supposed to be in a global recession. I'll acknowledge a recession in Thailand when the economy crashes as it did in 1997 and foreign currencies climb through roof. In my opinion, the Thai Baht is still considerably strong whether deservedlydeservedly or artificially so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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