Yes, this is correct. After reading through the last 3 pages of the thread again it seems that most people are making the comparison between the Baht and the UK pound not surprisingly as it is the topic of the thread). This is OK especially for those who have earnings transferred fro the UK. However the Thai Baht has been stable over the last month against other stable currencies such as the Swiss Franc.miked wrote:..........the political unrest should in theory cause the pound to strengthen against the baht. however the pound continues to weaken and that's because of the economic situation in the u.k contrary to what you will read on this forum the thai economy is in quite good shape and is largely unaffected by the credit crunch. thailand enjoys a large balance of trade surplus and has a more than adequate reserve of foreign currency............
The UK pound however has risen since May and has now returned to its April level against the Swiss Franc and shows some signs that it may carry on dropping.
If both these trends continue we will see the Baht/UK Pound rate lower. But as wanderlust points out this has happened many time over the years.
I remember 40 Baht to the Pound but I think this was due to a weak pound rather than a strong Baht.
This is absolutely spot on which the reasoning for my adverse remarks about the validity of making predictions. You can make educated guesses but here in Thailand what can you do about it.wanderlust wrote: Incidentally I have a degree in Economics, but it is such an inexact science that I really don't think it has an awful lot of relevance, and time and again economists have got it wrong when trying to predict
If you have a nice cash reserve you can speculate on the currency markets and improve the value of your assets while continually topping them up with your income. Of course you can lose as well.
Those who rely on a monthly pension from the UK to live on in Thailand can do very little other than move to another country but of course if the pound is dropping then most country's currencies will be relatively more expensive.
So to summarize for those who just want to see the current trend, it is advisable to compare both currencies to a known stable currency. I use the Swiss Franc because of tradition. There may be a better way now. I have heard both the Saudi Riyal (now shot to pieces) and the Norwegian Kroner being used although the latter still is affected by the EFTA legacy, the EU and the oil price.
Computer systems in banks and dealer rooms have the ability to compare against a selection of many currencies such as, the Sing Dollar, the Yen, the US Dollar, the Euro, the Swiss Franc, the UK Pound etc.etc.
Maybe this can be done on the internet but I have not yet found a site that does it.
