Pattaya Police Raid Poker Gambling Ring, Arrest 9 Foreign Players

[webfact]

TCC urges more measures to curb baht surge

BANGKOK, Oct 14 – The Bank of Thailand (BoT), the Ministry of Finance, and other state agencies concerned must take more action to curb the strengthening of the baht, according to Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) honorary chairman Pramon Sutivong.

He said the latest measures imposed by the government should help the baht appreciate more slowly than the currencies of Thailand’s trading rivals.

However, it would not make the baht weaken because the currency appreciation stemmed from the continued foreign capital inflows.

Mr Pramon said he did not know whether the measures would enable affected small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to adjust properly to the stronger baht.

He noted the ongoing intervention by the Bank of Thailand in the baht movement remains inadequate. The central bank, Finance Ministry, and other agencies concerned should jointly find more measures to rein in the baht surge.

“Exports are likely to grow at a slower pace next year as the baht is believed to continue strengthening. So, more measures should be taken to strengthen SMEs. Additionally, the government should implement the economic restructuring by shifting a strategy to drive the economic growth from dependence on exports to local consumption,” he said.

Narongchai Akrasanee, member of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said measures issued by the Finance Ministry could help ease the strengthening of the baht.

However, the central bank, which has a key role in overseeing the baht movement, should give more importance to containing the currency appreciation because its intervention in recent times remained unable to rein in the baht rise.

Should the central bank want to manage the baht efficiently, it must pay less attention to overseeing the inflation rate and delay the policy interest rate cut at the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee to be held on October 20, said Mr Narongchai. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2010-10-14

[george]

Thai PM says intervention cannot stop baht's rise

BANGKOK, October 14, 2010 (AFP) - Thailand's premier on Thursday appeared to rule out aggressive intervention by the authorities to weaken the baht, saying such action would be costly and probably ineffective.

History shows that countries that have stepped into the markets to try and bring down their currencies have failed, said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

"If we do it, the Bank of Thailand will have to spend a lot of money and the fact is we cannot stop the baht strengthening," he told reporters.

But Abhisit said Thailand planned more measures to cope with the stronger currency, without elaborating.

The kingdom this week moved to rein in its soaring currency with steps that include a tax for foreigners investing in Thai bonds, in the hope of slowing an influx of capital from overseas.

Thailand, in line with regional neighbours, has seen its currency soar as robust economic growth and rising markets attract investors.

In a bid to help Thai enterprises the Bank of Thailand already announced a relaxation of regulations on direct investment and on the repatriation of export proceeds.

The baht, which has appreciated around 10 percent this year, roared past the psychologically important level of 30 to the greenback last week.

The Thai currency was quoted at about 29.85 to the dollar late Thursday.

The central bank refuses to reveal whether it has intervened in the currency market to sell the baht but some dealers suspect it has done so, if only to slow the currency's rise rather than reverse the market trend.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-10-14

[Murf]

So the best we can hope for is a financial crash?

[cloudhopper]

The US will probably keep on printing dollars as long as all these stupid governments keep buying them in a futile effort to subsidize exports.

[Naam]

So the best we can hope for is a financial crash?

don't worry. if you use the search functions you will find a dozen threads (some three and even four years old) in which many resident experts and many² of their experienced followers forecast a crash of the Thai economy and the Thai Baht. the crash is coming. that many gurus can't be wrong. but... don't hold your breath!