50 Baht To The Pound..the Dream Is Over..!

[john1000]

Yes; but you are looking back to an old manufacturing industry long dead. Now its western companies investing in other countries, looking for a good return. oil gas, mining finance etc...

US and UK also specialise in defence, aircraft, and other areas. Building ships, cars and plastic toys best left to the far east!!

[Naam]

something happening with the Baht today. weaker against an overall weaker dollar. trf GBP = Baht 54.44 = dream retiring in Thailand again feasible?

[SantiSuk]

Thought I would save build and retire to Thailand, seems the pound has found it's true value. Let's face it, the UK produces and manufactures nothing of any great use to the outside world. Is my dream really over...?

I can think of a few other places that do not produce much - if you are talking about manufacture. Hong Kong and Singapore. I doubt all these countries will implode just like I doubt the UK will implode. We led the industrial revolution and are capable of leading the post-industrial revolution too.

[chiang mai]

something happening with the Baht today. weaker against an overall weaker dollar. trf GBP = Baht 54.44 = dream retiring in Thailand again feasible?

That something is a rumor that his majesty may be very unwell, the SET fell also. We trust it is nothing more than a rumor.

[cmdream]

Thought I would save build and retire to Thailand, seems the pound has found it's true value. Let's face it, the UK produces and manufactures nothing of any great use to the outside world. Is my dream really over...?

I can think of a few other places that do not produce much - if you are talking about manufacture. Hong Kong and Singapore. I doubt all these countries will implode just like I doubt the UK will implode. We led the industrial revolution and are capable of leading the post-industrial revolution too.

" We led the industrial revolution" . Please do not put the UK and the USA economies in the same sentence.

The USA is the technical,medical,educational center for the world. At least we produce something. What claim to fame does the UK have? " O" yes, you produce pomposity by the train load.

[chiang mai]

Thought I would save build and retire to Thailand, seems the pound has found it's true value. Let's face it, the UK produces and manufactures nothing of any great use to the outside world. Is my dream really over...?

I can think of a few other places that do not produce much - if you are talking about manufacture. Hong Kong and Singapore. I doubt all these countries will implode just like I doubt the UK will implode. We led the industrial revolution and are capable of leading the post-industrial revolution too.

" We led the industrial revolution" . Please do not put the UK and the USA economies in the same sentence.

The USA is the technical,medical,educational center for the world. At least we produce something. What claim to fame does the UK have? " O" yes, you produce pomposity by the train load.

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and, Rod Stewart - do you want more?

[cmdream]

Thought I would save build and retire to Thailand, seems the pound has found it's true value. Let's face it, the UK produces and manufactures nothing of any great use to the outside world. Is my dream really over...?

I can think of a few other places that do not produce much - if you are talking about manufacture. Hong Kong and Singapore. I doubt all these countries will implode just like I doubt the UK will implode. We led the industrial revolution and are capable of leading the post-industrial revolution too.

" We led the industrial revolution" . Please do not put the UK and the USA economies in the same sentence.

The USA is the technical,medical,educational center for the world. At least we produce something. What claim to fame does the UK have? " O" yes, you produce pomposity by the train load.

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and, Rod Stewart - do you want more?

Dam you forgot Elton John, Love them all.

[britmaveric]

^Spice Girls

[cmdream]

^Spice Girls

Do you mean Spicy girls in CM ? I don't think they are Brits.

[endure]

Yes; but you are looking back to an old manufacturing industry long dead. Now its western companies investing in other countries, looking for a good return. oil gas, mining finance etc...

US and UK also specialise in defence, aircraft, and other areas. Building ships, cars and plastic toys best left to the far east!!

Vauxhall, Ford, Mini, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Aston Martin, MG, LTI (Black cabs), Bristol, Lotus, Caterham, Noble, Morgan, Westfield - all built in the UK. Then there's all the racing research and development that goes on at Mclaren, Cosworth, Ricardo & Prodrive.

[mommysboy]

To my mind this is not about fundamentals at all, but yes sometimes 'subjective' factors have their run too, had it not have been you'd never have seen 80 baht to the pound or whatever and 70 plus for some time, and now we have reverse. Som 50 for some time and perhaps my worst case scenario of 45.

But try and assess the fundamentals of the Thai economy and you'll most likely end up in a very sorry state. As usual, it's a case of what you want to believe, eg, last week the deputy of BOT states Thai bt. is overvalued, 2 days later the Gov. says it's in line. I mean, sorry but that's the sort of thing that makes people feel crazy, and thoroughly in keeping with the territory.

So all you can do is concentrate on UK fundamentals and you'll see (with the exception of those determined to see what they want) that it is, no more no less much the same as all other major economies.

I think most detractors need to just do a little browsing on the subject of GDP and it's composition, could be in for a surprise, I mean ship building and railways have were last century's big thing.itish, it's anb attitude thing as much as the passport, scum!

I'd prefer some peoplee on this thread no refer to themselves as Br

[mommysboy]

CM seems to come up a lot on these threads! Gee shucks! Wonder what's going on?

[sokal]

pessimism is great isnt it?

The British pound was the reserve currency before, are you aware of that ? or did you think that on the 7th day, God created the US dollar ?

[sokal]

Also the yank markets too

You are clueless. For every gain in the US markets, the dollar has fallen. The opposite is happening for the rest of the world. My Canadian stocks have gone up more then any US markets, plus I have had huge gains in my currency.

[Naam]

Also the yank markets too

You are clueless. For every gain in the US markets, the dollar has fallen. The opposite is happening for the rest of the world. My Canadian stocks have gone up more then any US markets, plus I have had huge gains in my currency.

as you are a Canadian living (i assume) in Canada your gains were not huge but ZERO. go to Europe and find out that your huge gains are actually a loss of 10% during the last couple of years and for your holidays in Thailand you have to shell out 15% more CanDollars than two years ago (price increases not considered). so where's the huge CAD beef?

[sokal]

Also the yank markets too

You are clueless. For every gain in the US markets, the dollar has fallen. The opposite is happening for the rest of the world. My Canadian stocks have gone up more then any US markets, plus I have had huge gains in my currency.

as you are a Canadian living (i assume) in Canada your gains were not huge but ZERO. go to Europe and find out that your huge gains are actually a loss of 10% during the last couple of years and for your holidays in Thailand you have to shell out 15% more CanDollars than two years ago (price increases not considered). so where's the huge CAD beef?

My Canadian dollars buy a hel_l of allot more Gold and oil then they did 7 or 8 months ago so that means I have had gains in my currency.

Canadian dollar index

[chiang mai]

CM seems to come up a lot on these threads! Gee shucks! Wonder what's going on?

The reference was to Spicy Girls in CM, a well known late night drinking establishment that has many female, er, um, patrons

[Naam]

Also the yank markets too

You are clueless. For every gain in the US markets, the dollar has fallen. The opposite is happening for the rest of the world. My Canadian stocks have gone up more then any US markets, plus I have had huge gains in my currency.

as you are a Canadian living (i assume) in Canada your gains were not huge but ZERO. go to Europe and find out that your huge gains are actually a loss of 10% during the last couple of years and for your holidays in Thailand you have to shell out 15% more CanDollars than two years ago (price increases not considered). so where's the huge CAD beef?

My Canadian dollars buy a hel_l of allot more Gold and oil then they did 7 or 8 months ago so that means I have had gains in my currency.

Canadian dollar index

average price of gold 7-8 months ago USD 975/ounce - average exchange rate CAD/USD 7-8 months ago 1.20

7-8 months ago one ounce of gold was 1,200 Canadian Dollars, today one ounce of gold is 1,096 Canadian Dollars. may i therefore conclude that in Canada 8.67% represent "a héll of a lot more"?

edited to correct typo

Edited October 15, 2009 by Naam

[chiang mai]

To my mind this is not about fundamentals at all, but yes sometimes 'subjective' factors have their run too, had it not have been you'd never have seen 80 baht to the pound or whatever and 70 plus for some time, and now we have reverse. Som 50 for some time and perhaps my worst case scenario of 45.

But try and assess the fundamentals of the Thai economy and you'll most likely end up in a very sorry state. As usual, it's a case of what you want to believe, eg, last week the deputy of BOT states Thai bt. is overvalued, 2 days later the Gov. says it's in line. I mean, sorry but that's the sort of thing that makes people feel crazy, and thoroughly in keeping with the territory.

So all you can do is concentrate on UK fundamentals and you'll see (with the exception of those determined to see what they want) that it is, no more no less much the same as all other major economies.

I think most detractors need to just do a little browsing on the subject of GDP and it's composition, could be in for a surprise, I mean ship building and railways have were last century's big thing.itish, it's anb attitude thing as much as the passport, scum!

I'd prefer some peoplee on this thread no refer to themselves as Br

It's actually OK for different people from the same country to have differing or opposing views, in fact it's extremely healthy - having different views on a range of subjects concerning the motherland doesn't make any of those people less patriotic. These debates for me are all about trying to identify and understand all of the facts and secondly having an ability to take an informed unemotional view on those facts. Suggesting that some Brits are scum and preferring they not hold the same passport as you, just because their understanding of UK manufacturing output is one thing and you understand something different, is hardly sensible - far better I think to contribute facts to the debate until the correct answer surfaces naturally. And on that point, try these by way of GDP comparisons:

"As per data of financial year 2007, 0.9 percent of United Kingdom's GDP is made up of agriculture sector and 23.4 percent is made up of industrial sector. Services sector of United Kingdom contributed 75.7 percent of gross domestic product in financial year 2007".

Whereas by contrast, Thai GDP looks like this:

"GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 11.6%, industry: 45.1%, services: 43.3% (2008 est.)"

[pjclark1]

I was talking about the Baht/Pound exchange rate with my Thai bank manager.

His opinion was that at 50 to the pound it was a disaster for Thailand and said in his opinion it should be about 60bth to the English pound (no tourists as too expensive).

My personal opinion is that a civil war is coming fast, the Baht will crash and burn very shortly.

As for manufacturing base, the UK and Thailand seem about the same to me, a large amount of stuff out here appears to be imported from China.

[Naam]

I was talking about the Baht/Pound exchange rate with my Thai bank manager.

His opinion was that at 50 to the pound it was a disaster for Thailand and said in his opinion it should be about 60bth to the English pound (no tourists as too expensive).

My personal opinion is that a civil war is coming fast, the Baht will crash and burn very shortly.

As for manufacturing base, the UK and Thailand seem about the same to me, a large amount of stuff out here appears to be imported from China.

not to forget that the sky will fall!

[maccaroni man]

Yes; but you are looking back to an old manufacturing industry long dead. Now its western companies investing in other countries, looking for a good return. oil gas, mining finance etc...

US and UK also specialise in defence, aircraft, and other areas. Building ships, cars and plastic toys best left to the far east!!

Vauxhall, Ford, Mini, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Aston Martin, MG, LTI (Black cabs), Bristol, Lotus, Caterham, Noble, Morgan, Westfield - all built in the UK. Then there's all the racing research and development that goes on at Mclaren, Cosworth, Ricardo & Prodrive.

hmm a few US owned listed there

[chiang mai]

I was talking about the Baht/Pound exchange rate with my Thai bank manager.

His opinion was that at 50 to the pound it was a disaster for Thailand and said in his opinion it should be about 60bth to the English pound (no tourists as too expensive).

My personal opinion is that a civil war is coming fast, the Baht will crash and burn very shortly.

As for manufacturing base, the UK and Thailand seem about the same to me, a large amount of stuff out here appears to be imported from China.

The numbers in the GDP comparison don't agree I'm afraid, even at a high level the difference appears to be 23% vs 45%.

As for Thai bank managers, hmm, well, I'm not sure that his grasp of economics is what you might want it to be, nor his grasp on banking most likely, so I wouldn't put too much credence on his views on GBP/THB exchange rates. But you never know, we may all yet be pleasantly surprised - it's clear though from the events of yesterday that a large swing in GBP/THB is in the offering at some point although the others things that go along with it are much less desirable.

[chiang mai]

Yes; but you are looking back to an old manufacturing industry long dead. Now its western companies investing in other countries, looking for a good return. oil gas, mining finance etc...

US and UK also specialise in defence, aircraft, and other areas. Building ships, cars and plastic toys best left to the far east!!

Vauxhall, Ford, Mini, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Aston Martin, MG, LTI (Black cabs), Bristol, Lotus, Caterham, Noble, Morgan, Westfield - all built in the UK. Then there's all the racing research and development that goes on at Mclaren, Cosworth, Ricardo & Prodrive.

hmm a few US owned listed there

The question was what did the UK contribute, not who owns them today.

[Naam]

As for Thai bank managers, hmm, well, I'm not sure... =

and the tourist fairy tale as well as the "crashing" Baht makes me yawn since more than two years

[UKresonant]

Thought I would save build and retire to Thailand, seems the pound has found it's true value. Let's face it, the UK produces and manufactures nothing of any great use to the outside world. Is my dream really over...?

However, Brit expats in Thailand (unlike Americans) have a more serious problem, their state pension is not indexed it stays the same as it started years ago, and due to inflation its value goes down annually and this will have serious repercussion, there is one last chance (apart from the British parliament itself) and that is the European Court of Human Rights the first case there was lost and last month (Sept) the case was presented to the "Grand Chamber" of the Human Right Court, and the verdict is due in March 2010.

Have to express the view here that the UK state pension should be indexed, regardless of where you are! Indeed I totally agree, you should not have sanctions placed on your movements? If you have paid all the contributions, you should get the same reward as others. As perhaps it is being used to pay for health insurance in GBP or other such expenses, we are not all fortunate enough, to have no ongoing commitments in the UK!

(eg. I still work and pay taxes & NI in the UK, yet because my son does not stay in an EU state, he cannot get Child Benefit, yet another EU nation chap that works and pays NI in the UK, but his child is also not in the UK appear to recieve this no problem. The Netherlands appears to have a fairer system, not based on politicians predjudice's. many other examples)

Perhaps more relevant, I Expect the UK retail price Index to rapidly increase from

Oct 09 to March 2010, then dropping back slightly. Question is will the Bank of England respond with interest rate increases? Or will they rely on removal of the 2.5% VAT reduction instead? (as substitution of one or two rate increases) I think they will have to move the rates up before March 09. So I would look for 60 baht to the pound by April 2009.

[tmd5855]

Perhaps more relevant, I Expect the UK retail price Index to rapidly increase from

Oct 09 to March 2010, then dropping back slightly. Question is will the Bank of England respond with interest rate increases? Or will they rely on removal of the 2.5% VAT reduction instead? (as substitution of one or two rate increases) I think they will have to move the rates up before March 09. So I would look for 60 baht to the pound by April 2009.

Shurely a typo error old chap.

Rates rise March 09 and the baht at 60 by April 09. Shurely, Sir you mean 2010.

"?

[loverboy44]

Yes; but you are looking back to an old manufacturing industry long dead. Now its western companies investing in other countries, looking for a good return. oil gas, mining finance etc...

US and UK also specialise in defence, aircraft, and other areas. Building ships, cars and plastic toys best left to the far east!!

Vauxhall, Ford, Mini, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Aston Martin, MG, LTI (Black cabs), Bristol, Lotus, Caterham, Noble, Morgan, Westfield - all built in the UK. Then there's all the racing research and development that goes on at Mclaren, Cosworth, Ricardo & Prodrive.

hmm a few US owned listed there

The question was what did the UK contribute, not who owns them today.

All of the above listed together do not have the ammount of cars produced only in one factory of BMW in Regensburg. Volkswagen owns Bentley and BMW Rolls Royce and Mini.

So, don't be too optimistic about UK production. Besides at the moment it looks like they will close Vauxhall.

[SantiSuk]

Thought I would save build and retire to Thailand, seems the pound has found it's true value. Let's face it, the UK produces and manufactures nothing of any great use to the outside world. Is my dream really over...?

I can think of a few other places that do not produce much - if you are talking about manufacture. Hong Kong and Singapore. I doubt all these countries will implode just like I doubt the UK will implode. We led the industrial revolution and are capable of leading the post-industrial revolution too.

" We led the industrial revolution" . Please do not put the UK and the USA economies in the same sentence.

The USA is the technical,medical,educational center for the world. At least we produce something. What claim to fame does the UK have? " O" yes, you produce pomposity by the train load.

Brits also lead in the production of irony, but unfortunately Americans are not consumers of it.

[chiang mai]

Is it not possible to leave this as a 50 Baht to the Pound thread rather than turn it into a childish US vs UK bashing thread.