thai baht where is it going

Post by **Mack111** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:34 am

Lets scarp currency altogether and request that our salaries be paid

20 beer tokens
20 food tokens
10 petrol tokens
10 cigarette tokens

That should solve world economy currency problems

Post by **JimboPSM** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:01 am

Lomuamart, no problem, unfortunately I donâ€™t know exactly what rate GBP peaked at as all my records prior to January 2001 are monthly averages.

You did really well to close on your deal when you did (maybe a touch of good fortune as well), hindsight is perfect but itâ€™s impossible to know what any market will be tomorrow.

The situation in 1997/98 was a very different one to that which we are in today apart from one fact, then as now it was the western speculators that were trying to make a killing out of Thailand and I do not blame the Thai authorities for taking any measures they see fit to prevent it.

Mack111, you are correct, the currency markets are a real minefield and a great area to lose money. The point about the US Economy numbers are that they are so bad that it does not need rocket science to see why the value of the USD has fallen and will continue to fall until substantial remedial action is taken - currently there is no sign of that.

sargeant · Post by **sargeant** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:57 am

The date 13 jan 1998 at approx 1100 i recieved 87 ish baht to the pound at 1500 ish it hit 93 baht to the pound the next day it was 87ish to the pound

oh what nostalgia

Lomu sounds like you were on the plane in front of mine

Post by **lomuamart** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:49 pm

That's right. Sure was Jan 1998. I'd forgotten that the "over 90 mark" was only for a day.

Post by **Mack111** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:24 pm

never reliazed it ever went that high, dam wish i bought my house then!!

Post by **Big Boy** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:36 pm

JimboPSM wrote:

BB, I think you may have the wrong poster, as far as I am aware bozzman101 is not from the IoM, and probably not working in the finance sector.

Please accept my sincere apologies Jimbo, for some reason (and I was sober) I associated bozzman101 with your Avatar. Not even much resmblance ie Bart showing his backside, doesn't look much like the I.O.M. flag - Bart only has 2 legs.

Post by **STEVE G** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 5:12 am

That's right. Sure was Jan 1998. I'd forgotten that the "over 90 mark" was only for a day.

I was living in Indonesia at this time and the Rupiah devalued seven-fold in a few months, it was cheap living while it lasted. A friend of mine had a leaving party and paid every customers bill in a bar for about five hours; it cost less than a hundred pounds!

Post by **bozzman101** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 10:34 am

mabey im going senile

a quid was 240 pence here too in ireland where did i get the 144 from oops

Post by **JimboPSM** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 10:38 am

bozzman101 wrote:mabey im going senile a quid was 240 pence here too in ireland where did i get the 144 from oops

A gross error perhaps?

Post by **JimboPSM** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:15 pm

Bank of Thailand lowered its interest rate to 4.75% today.

Although there was little immediate impact on the Forex markets, this should help relieve the upward pressure on THB, it might even see USD, GBP, EUR etc start to improve a little

Press release from Bank of Thailand:

Monetary Policy Committeeâ€™s Decision on 17 January 2007

Ms. Suchada Kirakul, Assistant Governor of the Monetary Policy Group, Bank of Thailand, announces that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met today to assess the latest economic developments and trends in order to determine the appropriate monetary policy stance. The main issues discussed are as follows.

Latest economic indicators point towards a slowdown in domestic demand. In particular, consumption and investment in the first two months of the fourth quarter of 2006 showed a continued moderation from the previous quarter. Despite an expansion in exports, risks remain given the prospects of a slowdown in the global economy in 2007. On the other hand, inflationary pressures are expected to moderate, particularly from lower oil prices, significantly reducing the chances that core inflation will exceed the target band over the next two years.

The MPC viewed that inflationary pressures have moderated, while the risks to growth have increased. Therefore, monetary policy could be eased in support of a further expansion of the economy. The MPC thus decided to lower the 1-day repurchase rate from 4.9375 per cent per annum to 4.75 per cent per annum, with the 1-day repurchase rate replacing the 14-day repurchase rate as the policy rate, effective today.

Bank of Thailand
17 January 2007

Note: The keen eyed mathemeticians on the Forum will notice that this is actually slightly less than being reported in The Nation and on Bloomberg, both of whom are reporting a 0.25% fall.

The numeric calculation of the fall is actually 0.1875%, however as BoT also changed the policy interest rate to a 1 day repurchase rate from a 14 day repurchase rate today this actually equates to a 0.25% fall

Post by **PeteC** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:46 pm

There's one thing about Thaksin that us Expats forget, and that is he was/and is a proponent of an open Thai economy to become more competitive with the rest of the world.

Long time expats may be torn between a loss of Thai 'values', and how we could benefit from a more open economy/society? Anti/Pro Thaksin...which is best for us? Even, what is best for the Thai's? They don't know, and it's near impossible to have this converstion with them unless they are the university educated. 'Life is too short', is the common reply, accompanied by a big smile and a gesture to 'let's get back to what we're eating here'.

Condo sales in Pattaya are off the charts during the last two months. Villa sales are worse than during the 1997 crash. Trust your wife, trust your girlfriend, or do a leasehold. Foreign money for landed property has come to a full stop.

Perhaps we'll see the end of developer financing through buyer deposits (several years in advance of occupancy). I'm not sure on my law reference but I don't think that practice happens in most places, only in the wild east? Pete

Post by **Wesu** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:18 pm

I know that atleast here in Finland new visa-laws effect on sales of condos in Thailand, for finnish ppl atleast.

Post by **PeteC** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 6:10 pm

Be careful what source you use for currency reference. Last night as of 6 PM the bangkok post was reporting 36.01 to 1 USD and 46.66 to 1 Euro. British Pounds is not published.

However, at exactly the same time, Yahoo financials backed up by data was showing 35.05 to 1 USD and 45.30 to 1 Euro. I checked other on-line sources and Yahoo was correct.

So, either the Bangkok Post has bad sources, or the government is telling them what to publish as not to cause alarm? Pete

Post by **STEVE G** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:45 pm

Pete, you have to be a bit careful when the markets are closed, some sites just keep quoting the closing price whilst others are quoting overseas or electronic trading which can move about quite a bit.

Post by **PeteC** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:53 pm

STEVE G wrote:Pete, you have to be a bit careful when the markets are closed, some sites just keep quoting the closing price whilst others are quoting overseas or electronic trading which can move about quite a bit.

I know. The Bangkok Post was "as of 6 PM, Friday, Jan 19". I had by chance left my computer on all night with my Yahoo home page present and when I woke up my computer, that page was still there. 6:05 PM. Friday, Jan. 19th. This is why it seemed odd to me, basically same time but different numbers.? Pete