Gaybutton Posted October 6, 2008 Author Posted October 6, 2008 Monday, October 6 Opening Rates: US Dollar: 34.15 Euro: 46.505 British Pound: 60.19 Australian Dollar: 25.7375 Canadian Dollar: 31.305 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.22 Euro: 46.345 British Pound: 60.045 Australian Dollar: 25.305 Canadian Dollar: 31.335 Quote
Gaybutton Posted October 7, 2008 Author Posted October 7, 2008 Tuesday, October 7 Opening Rates: US Dollar: 34.39 Euro: 46.305 British Pound: 59.805 Australian Dollar: 24.5525 Canadian Dollar: 31.0725 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.28 Euro: 46.465 British Pound: 59.65 Australian Dollar: 24.5225 Canadian Dollar: 30.96 Quote
Guest slackersam Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 It's getting better all the time. Quote
Guest lvdkeyes Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 It would be great if the baht would get back to 41 as it was when I bought my condo in December 2004. Quote
Guest slackersam Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 As people pull their money out of stocks and into T-Bills that could easily happen. Quote
Gaybutton Posted October 7, 2008 Author Posted October 7, 2008 It would be great if the baht would get back to 41 as it was when I bought my condo in December 2004. I would think that all the political turmoil, especially now that it has escalated into violence, is going to have a strong effect, especially if the military ends up intervening. Quote
Guest gwm4sian Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 I notice that the rate being quoted in the UK is over 60, whilst the rate in Thailand is under 60. Used to be the other way around Quote
Gaybutton Posted October 7, 2008 Author Posted October 7, 2008 I wonder why that is? I'm no economics expert by any means, but one thing I've noticed over the years is that exchange rate responses to various situations are never immediate. For example, today I noticed that most major currencies actually dropped slightly during the day against the baht. I'm guessing that is a response to the European "no bailout." I'm also guessing it will take a few days before an exchange rate response to the chaos in Bangkok manifests itself. That makes sense to me. Now all it has to do is make sense to what actually ends up happening. Quote
Guest slackersam Posted October 7, 2008 Posted October 7, 2008 I just assume that currency traders are drunk monkeys with a dartboard. Quote
Gaybutton Posted October 8, 2008 Author Posted October 8, 2008 Wednesday, October 8 Opening Rates: US Dollar: 34.36 Euro: 46.64 British Pound: 60.325 Australian Dollar: 24.2225 Canadian Dollar: 30.9625 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.35 Euro: 46.67 British Pound: 59.895 Australian Dollar: 22.6625 Canadian Dollar: 30.825 Quote
Guest jackson2 Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Gay button, many thanks ,as a newbie member about to take his first trip to Thailand (Phuket)your commets and up to the minute rates , are very much appriciated . I hope to become a regular contribitar in the future and am encouraged by see the comments of yur self and others such as TOQ and slackersam. will be in touch again soon Regards Chad Quote
Gaybutton Posted October 8, 2008 Author Posted October 8, 2008 Gay button, many thanks You're quite welcome. If you make it to Pattaya during this trip or any other, please feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to take you around personally or at least meet you for a drink or dinner or whatever. As for the exchange rates, you can also look them up yourself at: http://www.krungsri.com/eng/exchange01.aspx That's where I get the rates from. I use the Bank of Ayudhya's web site because they publish the actual rate you receive rather than strictly the bank and offshore rates. They also publish updates several times each day, while most banks that publish the exchange rates at all do so once a day and that's it I'm planning to keep this thread going until the end of next week. If the rates remain relatively status quo, I'm going to stop posting the rates until such time as more major changes occur. If the rates are in motion at the end of next week I'll continue posting, but I'll start a new thread. This one is getting kind of long. Quote
Guest lvdkeyes Posted October 8, 2008 Posted October 8, 2008 Today I got 34.45 from my US bank via ATM. Quote
Gaybutton Posted October 9, 2008 Author Posted October 9, 2008 Thursday, October 9 Opening Rates: US Dollar: 34.27 Euro: 46.50 British Pound: 58.79 Australian Dollar: 22.70 Canadian Dollar: 30.265 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.13 Euro: 46.865 British Pound: 59.155 Australian Dollar: 23.7575 Canadian Dollar: 30.305 Quote
Guest Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 The crisis in USA and the World seems to be fluctuating the value of the dollar up and down in many places around the globe. I have friends currently in Brazil for business and the rates there are the best I have seen in a few trips. Currently they are 2.4 R to the dollar. Long gone are the days when I got 3.6 R. But, on my last trip to Brazil the rate was 1.8 or less. I have been told that Argentina still has great rates for the USD and that the country is still an amazing bargain for American's and perhaps one of the best for US citizens to visit for the exchange rate. The Thai Baht seems to go up and down slightly. I remember at one point Gaybutton that you had said the government wanted to keep the rate at a certain number. Do you remember what that goal was? Are they trying to get it back to 40 or does that not benefit them? I have been in USA for a bit and the Bangkok mess has been front and center on the newspapers here and I am sure the Bloodshed in Thailand tags are going to affect tourism this year as many do not want to travel to a place they think is unstable. I read with great interest your posting on Pattaya and you were right on point. It seems like another world and no on should worry about traveling to Thailand. However, the fact that most that want to go there won't research things much beyond the NY Times or other mainstream papers tells me that this year the bookings for trips are going to be way down unless things settle down very soon. Quote
Guest slackersam Posted October 9, 2008 Posted October 9, 2008 The dollar is going great against the euro at the moment. Quote
Gaybutton Posted October 9, 2008 Author Posted October 9, 2008 I remember at one point Gaybutton that you had said the government wanted to keep the rate at a certain number. Do you remember what that goal was? Are they trying to get it back to 40 or does that not benefit them? At the time the official line was saying 40. Whether that's still what they want is anybody's guess now. For several months, long before all of the political hysteria began, the prediction was the exchange rate would be 35 to the US dollar by the end of the year. Given the average movement since the crisis began, it could still happen that way. Again, your guess is as good as anybody's. There's no telling what's going to end up happening, but I would have no objection at all if it gets into the 40's again. I predicted a baht crash two years ago. I hasn't happened and in all honesty I don't know what's keeping it from crashing. As I've said many times, I know virtually nothing about economics, but I do know what makes sense to me. The fact that the baht is still holding relatively strong despite everything that has happened over the past couple years goes beyond my understanding. I still think the baht will crash. I just hope the US dollar doesn't crash right along with it. Quote
Guest GaySacGuy Posted October 10, 2008 Posted October 10, 2008 What US dollar??? The market tanked another 600 points overnight!! There won't be any US dollar if this keeps up! Quote
Gaybutton Posted October 10, 2008 Author Posted October 10, 2008 Friday, October 10 Opening Rates: US Dollar: 34.23 Euro: 46.32 British Pound: 58.14 Australian Dollar: 22.69 Canadian Dollar: 29.425 _____ Closing Rates: US Dollar: 34.17 Euro: 46.25 British Pound: 57.725 Australian Dollar: 22.4725 Canadian Dollar: 29.3325 Since there has not been highly significant exchange rate changes since the surge that got me to start this thread, after I report today's closing rates, this is where I'm going to discontinue reporting the rates. If I see the rates making significant movement, I'll start the daily reports again, but on a new thread. In the meantime, I get my information from the Bank of Ayudhya web site. I find that site to be the most generally accurate regarding the rates you actually receive when exchanging money in Thailand and they report updated rates several times each day. I advise you to use the rates Bank of Ayudhya reports rather than other web sites. Many web sites report the offshore, or some other type of exchange rate, and often people end up with an unpleasant surprise when they exchange money or pull money at an ATM if they were relying on those rate reports. Those of you who wish to keep up with the current rates can do so at: http://www.krungsri.com/eng/exchange01.aspx Quote
Guest laurence Posted October 12, 2008 Posted October 12, 2008 What US dollar??? The market tanked another 600 points overnight!! There won't be any US dollar if this keeps up! Oddly, it seems the USD is doing well against most major currencies except the Japanese Yen. In a time of financial crisis the US may be the last port of refuge? I would not want to be an Icelander and yes, many Icelanders do visit Thailand as tourists esp in winter. Quote