So do I and I have just had a chat with a forex broker is Sydney who says that the THB is buoyant at the moment but nothing extraordinary.Big Boy wrote:I find this Onshore/Offshore stuff very confusing.
I think form reading the recent posts there is still a great deal of mis-understanding. As for as onshore is concerned, my understanding is that this is the rate used by the member banks to exchange cash between WB members. The rates change by the hour at least. What you get in an ATM, a retail bank or a Curreny exchange booth are all based on this amount. Every bank has its own way and frequency of adjusting the rate, hence the minor differences. What you need to look at is the central rate. This is the half way mark between buy and sell. To experiment for those who depend upon an ATM is to check an exchange booth (ideally the same bank company that you will withdraw from) first and calculate the cash mid rate. Then check what the bank charges you on the statement.
As fo offshore rates, I have just been told that that is the PC term for grey money. The order is Clean cash is the most expensive, grubby (grey) second and black the cheapest.
Before the breakdown of the Soviet block I would never dream of buying clean cash in Poland. Dirty cash was as much as a third the cost.
Since the departure of Thaksin I would expect there to be boat loads of grubby cash stashed up in neighboring territories. My guess is that fact would reduce its value.
