Baht set for best week since October as Bangkok protests wane

[elzach]

"...and set for its worst week as BKK protests escalate."

And as the February election situation is becoming even more fluid, expect further drops.

In summary, if you brought in forex for visas, house purchase etc at the beginning of the year, you are already losing 10% plus the inflation rate, while making 1-2% at the bank. Enjoy amazing Thailand.

[Loptr]

Hmm, Bloomberg seems to think differently about the effect of the current political strife on the baht.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-19/thai-default-risk-soars-as-funds-pull-4-billion-southeast-asia.html

Thai Default Risk Soars as Funds Pull $4 Billion: Southeast Asia

The risk of Thailand defaulting on its debt is the highest since August as anti-government protests prompt money managers to sell the nation’s assets.

The cost of protecting the nation’s debt soared after investors including Wells Fargo Inc. pulled more than $4 billion from Thai stocks and bonds since Oct. 31, as rallies clogged up Bangkok roads and clashes claimed eight lives. Pacific Investment Management Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Kokusai Asset Management Co. reduced debt holdings before protests first erupted in late October, regulatory filings show.

“We sold the entire Thai position in our international bond fund through the end of last year,” Lauren Van Biljon, an analyst in London at Wells Fargo’s First International Advisors LLC unit, said in a Jan. 17 telephone interview. “There seems to be a very wide gulf between the different political sides.”

[plachon]

It started way earlier. Look at this video:

Mechai Viravaidya: How Mr. Condom made Thailand a better place http://on.ted.com/exhj

Recommended viewing.

Many thanks.

There are people in this country who could run the place without self-interest and for the benefit of all. It could be a wonderful country, just need to dismantle the old patronage and power structures.

Mechai, I am sorry to tell you, is very much a fully paid-up member of the old patronage and dominant power structure that has kept Thailand in a semi-feudal state for so long. He is a reformer in many ways, such as his family planning work, but helping to dismantle the existing patronage and primitive accumulation of resources system enjoyed by a tiny well-connected elite in this country, is not one of the areas he is going to reform.

[MJP]

It started way earlier. Look at this video:

Mechai Viravaidya: How Mr. Condom made Thailand a better place http://on.ted.com/exhj

Recommended viewing.

Many thanks.

There are people in this country who could run the place without self-interest and for the benefit of all. It could be a wonderful country, just need to dismantle the old patronage and power structures.

Mechai, I am sorry to tell you, is very much a fully paid-up member of the old patronage and dominant power structure that has kept Thailand in a semi-feudal state for so long. He is a reformer in many ways, such as his family planning work, but helping to dismantle the existing patronage and primitive accumulation of resources system enjoyed by a tiny well-connected elite in this country, is not one of the areas he is going to reform.

That is sad. Same the world over I guess.

I think there's nothing wrong with a well connected elite, it's just how they got it and continue to abuse it. Mechai doesn't strike me as one who abuses it, rather uses it to benefit people.

[plachon]

It started way earlier. Look at this video:

Mechai Viravaidya: How Mr. Condom made Thailand a better place http://on.ted.com/exhj

Recommended viewing.

Many thanks.

There are people in this country who could run the place without self-interest and for the benefit of all. It could be a wonderful country, just need to dismantle the old patronage and power structures.

Mechai, I am sorry to tell you, is very much a fully paid-up member of the old patronage and dominant power structure that has kept Thailand in a semi-feudal state for so long. He is a reformer in many ways, such as his family planning work, but helping to dismantle the existing patronage and primitive accumulation of resources system enjoyed by a tiny well-connected elite in this country, is not one of the areas he is going to reform.

That is sad. Same the world over I guess.

I think there's nothing wrong with a well connected elite, it's just how they got it and continue to abuse it. Mechai doesn't strike me as one who abuses it, rather uses it to benefit people.

Amongst the uber-elite of Thailand's "old clan", Mechai is fairly liberal and prepared to push for reforms in health and rural development policies where he sees fit, and I don't deny that this has led to real benefits for many people's lives, especially in regards to family planning and AIDS awareness and prevention. However, he has occasionally used his status to avoid legal niceties, such as over the rather archaic anti-abortion laws in Thailand and operating his clinics. Now, one might well say "the law is an ass" in this instance, and I would be inclined to agree with you, but one also might argue that the law should apply to all equally; rich or poor, hiso or loso. He is also known for the autocratic manner in which he runs his pseudo-NGO, the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), where he has little time for alternative views to his own and is treated as a virtual demi-god by staff. But you are right in thinking that he is at the most positive end of the spectrum of the elite clan and there are far worse abusers of their position than him.

[Prbkk]

SET up again today, and the baht is stronger/USD

[mancub]

Actually the baht currently shows a depreciation of 0.14% v USD ...