Baht Remains Strong - Tourism Down

[Gaybutton]

Baht's Ok but Tourism Suffers

 

Published: 27/04/2010

 

The escalating political crisis has not affected the value of the Thai currency, Bank of Thailand (BOT) deputy governor Bandit Nijthaworn said on Tuesday.

 

"The baht's value has not been hit by the political turmoil as there are no capital outflows at this time.

 

"In contrast, the Thai currency has appreciated as a result of continuous capital inflows to the Thai stock and bond markets," Mr Bandit said.

 

Thailand's credit rating had been recently downgraded but it should not affect the interest rates of foreign loans to the country, he said.

 

"But the interest rates could rise if the country's credit rating continues dropping because of higher risk," he said.

 

The central bank will evaluate the overall economy along with the effects on this year's economic growth and will announce its economic projection on Friday.

 

Baht's ok but tourism suffers

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

I'm not sure why but I just came back from Hatyai and I got 9.8 Baht to the Ringgit on Sunday, then 9.9 on Monday. Considering that the Baht stayed at 9.5 to RM1 for nearly two years before that, I'm surprised to hear that the Baht is doing okay.

 

At first, I thought that it was because the Malaysian Ringgit had appreciated (it has against the US$, the Euro, the Singapore $ and the Australian $) but then, it occurred to me that in the past, whenever that happened, the rate stayed the same against the Baht. So nasty, suspicious, evil-minded person that I am, I kept asking myself if it might have been because the people in South Thailand were stocking up on Malaysian Ringgit as a hedge against some not-quite-unexpected event?

[Guest rhodochrosite]

I'm not sure why but I just came back from Hatyai and I got 9.8 Baht to the Ringgit on Sunday, then 9.9 on Monday. Considering that the Baht stayed at 9.5 to RM1 for nearly two years before that, I'm surprised to hear that the Baht is doing okay.

 

At first, I thought that it was because the Malaysian Ringgit had appreciated (it has against the US$, the Euro, the Singapore $ and the Australian $) but then, it occurred to me that in the past, whenever that happened, the rate stayed the same against the Baht. So nasty, suspicious, evil-minded person that I am, I kept asking myself if it might have been because the people in South Thailand were stocking up on Malaysian Ringgit as a hedge against some not-quite-unexpected event?

Suspicious...maybe.......BUT NASTY AND EVIL MINDED.....NO NO NO..NEVER...LOL....Ive hopped over from Ting Tong...Please Forgive Me...lol

[Guest GaySacGuy]

GB...could you post the websites again that you use to get the updates on the value of the baht to the US dollar???

[Guest cdnmatt]

GB...could you post the websites again that you use to get the updates on the value of the baht to the US dollar???

 

For current exchange rates, an excellent site is XE - The World's Favorite Currency and Foreign Exchange Site

 

Of course though, those are actual exchange rates. Banks tend to lean them in their favor, so you basically always get a worst rate than what xe.com shows.

[Gaybutton]

My preference is this one:

 

Siam Commercial Bank Currency Exchange Rates

[atri1666]

My basic site is >> UpDate @ Thailand Exchange Rates & Foreign Exchange Rate Bangkok Bank

Here i can look all banks in LOS

[Guest]

How it is possible that the baht has not fallen? What does this say about the future strength of the baht?

[Gaybutton]

What does this say about the future strength of the baht?

Wouldn't it be great to know? BoT says the reason the baht is maintaining such strength is money is still flowing into Thailand, but not flowing out. If money starts flowing out, then the value of the baht will decrease.

 

I think the main question is why money isn't flowing out. The only two reasons I can come up with is that investors still think Thailand is a good investment or that investors would like to sell their assets and move their money out, but can't find people who want to buy, which means they're stuck.

[Guest fountainhall]

Wouldn't it be great to know? BoT says the reason the baht is maintaining such strength is money is still flowing into Thailand, but not flowing out.

Some weeks ago, the government started an investigation into considerable sums flowing into the country in the belief that these were to fund what has become a major on-going demonstration - i.e. Thaksin money. If the rumours about demonstrators getting Bt. 1,000 for just being there (which I know was true as of 2 weeks ago) and Bt. 2,000 if they formally sign up, and if the the numbers have averaged, say, 20,000 a day, that's Bt. 30 million. It's been going on now for almost 7 weeks. Add on all the other costs for feeding etc. and we could be looking at over Bt. 300 million. I have no idea if this is a lot or a little in terms of capital inflow, but it surely must be having some effect. I just cannot believe investors are betting that Thailand will get out of this sooner rather than later. Then again, I am about the world's worst when it comes to making investment decisions!

[Guest Kurt]

Some weeks ago, the government started an investigation into considerable sums flowing into the country in the belief that these were to fund what has become a major on-going demonstration - i.e. Thaksin money. If the rumours about demonstrators getting Bt. 1,000 for just being there (which I know was true as of 2 weeks ago) and Bt. 2,000 if they formally sign up, and if the the numbers have averaged, say, 20,000 a day, that's Bt. 30 million. It's been going on now for almost 7 weeks. Add on all the other costs for feeding etc. and we could be looking at over Bt. 300 million. I have no idea if this is a lot or a little in terms of capital inflow, but it surely must be having some effect. I just cannot believe investors are betting that Thailand will get out of this sooner rather than later. Then again, I am about the world's worst when it comes to making investment decisions!

Thank you fountainhall your explanation seems quite plausible to me

[Gaybutton]

Thank you fountainhall your explanation seems quite plausible to me

Me too. I said it many times before - I'm no economist and I know almost nothing about how these things work, but I would think it would take billions, not millions of baht to have a dramatic effect on exchange rates. The baht weakened slightly today, but certainly nothing significant.

[Guest xiandarkthorne]

Suspicious...maybe.......BUT NASTY AND EVIL MINDED.....NO NO NO..NEVER...LOL....Ive hopped over from Ting Tong...Please Forgive Me...lol

 

Hi Rhodo,

Thank you for the nice thought...but I am nasty and evil-minded. How or why else should I have been wondering if the southern Thais are stocking up on ther currencies in anticipation of something big?

 

Anyway,concerning 'something big' I must also add that there's a rumour being repeated in Hatyai regarding the billionaire-in-exile's health. I won't repeat it here as I have not seen anything in the news regarding what the southerners are saying, but that could be a reason for any form of foreign currency stockpiling.

 

I have also heard from some people in financial circles that a lot of gold was being offloaded to keep the local money high against other currencies. I am not sure what that means or how it works but that's what I heard.

[Guest badcdn]

This is a handy site that's updated regularly.

 

Bank foreign currency exchange rates - Compare currency exchange rates across banks

[Gaybutton]

This is a handy site that's updated regularly.

Very good find! That site is quite accurate. My monthly retirement benefit came in the the day before their latest posting and that site was accurate to within 300 baht of what I received. From now on, that's the site I'll be checking.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I got money yesterday about 2pm and got a rate of 32.25.