The Baht

[Naam]

Naam died ? Or is he just *wandering* ? If yes, where is he *wandering* ?

to the best of my knowledge i am still alive. well... i was alive when i shaved an hour ago. and in another couple of hours, or whenever it gets bright, i will be wandering in Switzerland's deep snow with nothing else on my mind then the Baht and a sympathetic smile on my face when i think of jerks who call me a jerk.

[flying]

i will be wandering in Switzerland's deep snow with nothing else on my mind then the Baht and a sympathetic smile on my face when i think of jerks who call me a jerk.

Forget the baht....when in Switz think Lady Fortuna Pamp Suisse

Have fun

Edited December 20, 2010 by flying

[Naam]

Forget the baht....when in Switz think Lady Fortuna Pamp Suisse

Have fun

we were thinking of her when storing in our locker what was sent from Singapore months ago.

[Naam]

Unfortunately the BoE, in common with the BOT, do not frame their policies to benefit expats living in Thailand.

quite correct! but what are valid reasons why these, or any, central banks should act to the benefit of us expats living in Thailand?

[inthepink]

B.O.T. has been keeping the Baht DOWN? Try telling that little absurdity to anyone who gets money from England, U.S. or Europe. True, they did lift interest rates ,THIS week on Wednesday , by 0.25%.The Baht has been strong for 2 years ,now.All that seems to be happening is that the Baht, maybe even slightly strengthening. No chance of it weakening, in the short term. Which is why so few Farang tourists. are coming here.

Why don't you take a look at the BOT's foreign reserve figures over the last year or two to get an idea of what they have been doing to keep the baht weaker? The you might realise thet absurdity of your own comments.

I think posters like Naam give short answers because they are fed up with the drivel that is posted on here about foreign exchange. Contrary to what a couple of others have said, many posters with less knowledge of financial markets are often not looking for advice but instead simply wish to voice their erroneous opinons about the baht being high because of some rich Thai / BOT conspiracy, which is utter bilge.

I was wandering when one of Mr Naam's toadies would speak up. "Drivel" and "Bilge" eh? Your role model will be proud of you. I say the same to you as I say to Naam and that is if you can't make a civil reply, then don't bother replying at all, even if you are fed up with the drivel and bilge. Your drivel and bilge may seem like a sensible query to someone with little knowledge of finances.

Don't know Naam personally, certainly not one of his toadies. Perhaps we are both capable of reading newspapers and don't post rubbish about exchange rates? Why don't you actually do as I suggested and look at the Bank of Thailand's dollar holdings? Surely you are not claiming that you need a degree in Economics to understand that if the BOT has a lot of dollars then they obviously haven't been using them to buy baht???

Edited December 21, 2010 by inthepink

[inthepink]

Unfortunately the BoE, in common with the BOT, do not frame their policies to benefit expats living in Thailand.

quite correct! but what are valid reasons why these, or any, central banks should act to the benefit of us expats living in Thailand?

There are no valid reasons

[IMA_FARANG]

People seem to have short memories...or they are maybe just too young to remember.

I first came to Thailand in July 1977. At that time I recall that the Baht/Dollar rate was about 25 Baht for one dollar. I've been coming back to Thailand at least once every year since then. I've seen the Baht/Dollar rate go from 25 to a dollar, to 30, to 35, then up to as much as 48. Then it went back down again. About 2 months ago I was getting about 28 baht for my dollar. Today it is back up to 30 baht to a dollar.

I also once flew through Heathrow when the Pound to Dollar rate was $1.18 for a pound. My $118 bought me 100 GBP that day. I think the lowest it ever reached was about $1.10 for one pound. Ten years later, it was up to almost $2.00 for one GBP.

The truth of the matter is that governments, and more especially a countries central bank, can't and doesn't control international exchange rates today. The foreign exchange speculators and large international banks can and do. Right now they are betting against the Dollar, the Pound, the Euro, and the Yen; and betting on the Chinese Yuan The large international banks can,and do, transfer hundreds of millions (even billions) of dollars around with a computer today. Suppose you can get the equivalent of one five thousandth of a cent profit by transfering dollars to Tokyo, buying Yen there, transferring it back to New York, and selling it there. There is only one five thousandth of a cent profit on each dollar...but you have 500 million dollars to transfer. All it takes is a few keystrokes on a computer, and it's instant profit.

That's why central banks can't control the foriegn exchange rate today...the international banking system and currency speculators (being the banks) do.

So, anyhow, bottom line: the Asian currencies are the hot flavor today. Capital is flooding into Asia, and any Asian currency is strong. Investors want it. The Thai Baht is part of that process, even hough it's only a minor player.

It's all driven by greed and profit. And, as always, the little guy pays the price.

[inthepink]

People seem to have short memories...or they are maybe just too young to remember.

I first came to Thailand in July 1977. At that time I recall that the Baht/Dollar rate was about 25 Baht for one dollar. I've been coming back to Thailand at least once every year since then. I've seen the Baht/Dollar rate go from 25 to a dollar, to 30, to 35, then up to as much as 48. Then it went back down again. About 2 months ago I was getting about 28 baht for my dollar. Today it is back up to 30 baht to a dollar.

I also once flew through Heathrow when the Pound to Dollar rate was $1.18 for a pound. My $118 bought me 100 GBP that day. I think the lowest it ever reached was about $1.10 for one pound. Ten years later, it was up to almost $2.00 for one GBP.

The truth of the matter is that governments, and more especially a countries central bank, can't and doesn't control international exchange rates today. The foreign exchange speculators and large international banks can and do. Right now they are betting against the Dollar, the Pound, the Euro, and the Yen; and betting on the Chinese Yuan The large international banks can,and do, transfer hundreds of millions (even billions) of dollars around with a computer today. Suppose you can get the equivalent of one five thousandth of a cent profit by transfering dollars to Tokyo, buying Yen there, transferring it back to New York, and selling it there. There is only one five thousandth of a cent profit on each dollar...but you have 500 million dollars to transfer. All it takes is a few keystrokes on a computer, and it's instant profit.

That's why central banks can't control the foriegn exchange rate today...the international banking system and currency speculators (being the banks) do.

So, anyhow, bottom line: the Asian currencies are the hot flavor today. Capital is flooding into Asia, and any Asian currency is strong. Investors want it. The Thai Baht is part of that process, even hough it's only a minor player.

It's all driven by greed and profit. And, as always, the little guy pays the price.

In the end its driven by fundamentals. The Thai economy is expanding much more quickly than that of the US, UK, Japan or Euro zone. Also they are not running a large current account deficit.

Who is the little guy paying the price anyway? Are you a socialist?

Edited December 21, 2010 by inthepink

[Naam]

I first came to Thailand in July 1977. At that time I recall that the Baht/Dollar rate was about 25 Baht for one dollar.

in 1977 the rate was 20 Baht for one dollar. from 1980 till mid 1997 one dollar bought 25 Baht. both rates were artificially set by the Thai central bank and defended mainly by the lack of free convertibility and in 1997 by using most of the foreign currency reserves. we all know what happened in 1997 till this very day.

worthwhile to mention is that in 1977 three US-dollars (60 Baht) bought six medium sized rock lobsters in an airconditioned restaurant accompanied with rice, phrik nam pla and two other dips. today 60 Baht won't even buy a single one!