Strong Baht Weak Baht

[seven]

On 7/7/2021 at 5:29 PM, Pdoggg said:

Recent talk revolves around lockdowns

https://www.yahoo.com/news/thailand-impose-tighter-restrictions-slow-090106780.html

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand announced tighter restrictions in the capital Bangkok and nine provinces on Friday in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, including travel curbs, mall closures, a curfew and limits on the size of gatherings.

[Woodie]

This crazy Thai baht. With all that is going on over there, I still only get 23.5. It just does not seem to change!!.

[Quietguy]

Apparently the UK Pound has reached 45 Baht, and according to this forecast will reach 50 Baht by the end of the year. 

Let's hope we can get there!

[BigTel]

17 minutes ago, Quietguy said:

Apparently the UK Pound has reached 45 Baht, and according to this forecast will reach 50 Baht by the end of the year. 

I reckon someone up there is messing with us Q G   as most of our previous trips it's been good if it even hit 40  now this is just rubbing salt in the wound now that we can't get back there.     

[Quietguy]

Yes @BigTel I don't know how they get that figure of over 50 Baht by the end of the year and during 2022. But we can dream! 

[rxpharm]

That forecast is likely taking into the account the current Covid 19 delta surge in Thailand, and the government's slow vaccination program. There have already been revisions of Thailand's GPD to be at least 1% lower for this year, and also a downward revision for 2022.

If things continue to get worse - and without major progress in the vaccination program (unlikely at this point, plus they are saddled with a large number of Sinovac vaccines), Covid 19 will be likely be a problem until mid-late 2022.

 

[blind boy grunt]

wow! Quinn... come later this year we can start eating again.... or sponsor Lily a bit more...

[Quinn]

Or even eating Lily ! 55555

[markm]

On 7/10/2021 at 7:55 AM, Woodie said:

This crazy Thai baht. With all that is going on over there, I still only get 23.5. It just does not seem to change!!.

defies logic 

[Pdoggg]

On 6/24/2021 at 11:20 PM, Pdoggg said:

The baht continues to depreciate and next week the 32 baht/USD threshold should be breached.

The baht might breach 33 to the dollar today.

[Quietguy]

UK £ also up, to 45.34 Baht. 

 

[seven]

5 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

The baht might breach 33 to the dollar today.

 

4 hours ago, Quietguy said:

UK £ also up, to 45.34 Baht. 

Wow! What y'all gonna do with all the extra monies? Buy masks?

[blind boy grunt]

4 hours ago, seven said:

 

Wow! What y'all gonna do with all the extra monies? Buy masks?

it could go to paying for a plane ticket to Sweden... PD would soon sort you lot out!

[Pdoggg]

On 7/24/2021 at 9:38 AM, blind boy grunt said:

it could go to paying for a plane ticket to Sweden... PD would soon sort you lot out!

The extraction plan was in place with Captain Grunt up front in the cockpit with a fag in his mouth and flight attendants Teya, Sara and Sunny in the rear informing the flyers to buckle up for a bumpy ride but after takeoff a Covid+ interloper couldn't fool the Kittens as they observed unusual activity in the hong nam and his plan to spread the plague was foiled:

Quote

Stories have been going viral about how after lockdowns and travel restrictions, airlines are struggling with defiant and badly behaved passengers. But an Indonesian man who is infected with Covid-19 went to extreme measures to sneak aboard a flight this week disguised by dressing up as his Covid-19 negative wife.

The man who had tested positive for Covid-19 swapped identities with his wife who tested negative in order to board a domestic flight in Indonesia. He was able to use his wife’s passport and her negative PCR test results to clear security at Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in Jakarta and board the plane and wasn’t detected until midway through the flight.

The man was able to board the flight disguised as his wife by wearing a niqab, a veil that some Muslim women wear that covers their entire face except their eyes. But apparently thinking he was already in the clear, partway through the flight, a flight attendant witnessed him walk into the bathroom as a woman, and come back out dressed in his normal male clothing.

The flight was a Citilink flight from Jakarta to Ternate, and the attendant contacted airport authorities in Ternate who were waiting to take the man into custody when the plane landed. Health officials onsite immediately tested the man for Covid-19 with a PCR test that returned a positive result.

The Ternate City Covid-19 Handling Task Force was then brought in wearing full PPE safety gear to take the man off the premises, escorting him to his house in the city via an ambulance escort. He has been commanded to self-isolate in his home, with observation by officers of the task force.

Local police have stated that the man disguised as his wife on the flight will face criminal charges after he finishes the mandatory self-isolation period.

https://thethaiger.com/news/regional/indonesia-en/man-with-covid-19-disguised-as-his-wife-to-board-flight

 

 

[Pdoggg]

The Thai baht, once the strongest-performing currency in Asia before the pandemic, has been steadily falling in 2021 and is this year’s worst-hit currency in the region, according to Mizuho Bank.

The Japanese bank pointed to “uncharacteristic under-performance in the Thai Baht, rendering it the worst performer to date in 2021” in a note on Friday.

The Thai baht has plunged more than 10% against the U.S. dollar year-to-date, as of Monday morning, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Thailand’s currency is the weakest-performing this year compared to other major Asia Pacific currencies, according to Refinitiv. Against the greenback, the Japanese yen is nearly 7% lower, the Malaysian ringgit declined by 5%, while the Australian dollar is down 4.43% year-to-date.

“At face value, THB as the unequivocal and significant laggard does not square with Thailand’s solid (albeit diminished) current account surplus or relatively low inflation,” wrote Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at the bank.

In 2019, before the Covid pandemic hit, there were concerns about the strengthening Thai baht, which was buoyed by its large trade surplus. A stronger currency makes the country’s exports more expensive, causing them to be less attractive in international markets.

Still, the Asian currency’s underperformance this year cannot be solely blamed on the Covid pandemic, considering that the impact of the delta variant on the rest of the region is “far more dismal,” Varathan said.

Varathan pointed out the sharp decline in tourism numbers has actually multiplied the “Covid devastation” on Thailand’s economy.

Thailand had only over 34,000 tourist arrivals as of May this year, compared with over 39 million in 2019, according to data from its tourism ministry as well as the World Bank.

The Southeast Asian nation relies heavily on tourism dollars for economic growth. Tourist spending accounted for about 11% of Thai GDP in 2019, before the pandemic.

Fewer tourists also mean lower demand for the Thai baht.

“The sheer force of this ‘tourism multiplier’ means that it remains the decisive drag on THB,” Varathan said.

“Further ‘variant risks’ and attendant rolling delays to tourism/travel resumption will continue to pose a clear and present threat to the THB,” he said, referring to new variants of Covid.

Thailand’s over-reliance on tourism is going to be “very challenging” for the country as it seeks to reopen up to tourists while still battling with the pandemic, Nomura’s Chief ASEAN Economist Euben Paracuelles said on Thursday.

The country’s attempts to reopen its tourism destinations have not gone well, he told CNBC.

In July, Thailand started a so-called “sandbox” pilot scheme in Phuket, where tourists can visit the holiday destination without quarantining. But just a week after it reopened, it recorded one case — a tourist from the United Arab Emirates. By the end of the first week, it had 27 new cases, according to the Associated Press.

“So to be able to open up, I think (it) will be a very big struggle and they have very ambitious targets, they want to fully reopen by October. I think that’s probably too ambitious, probably not going to happen,” Paracuelles said. “And because of Thailand’s over reliance on tourism, I think that’s where the drive and the recovery will be coming from the most.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/26/asian-currencies-thailand-covid-lack-of-tourism-hit-thai-baht.html

 

[stoolpusher]

The Australian dollar work on commodities +a moron government so our days of getting 30 baht to $1 AUS are long gone sady . 

   I do hope the TB revovers as tourists and trade get back to normal. 

 

  Thanks for posting Mr.P , that was an interesting read.

[markm]

6 hours ago, stoolpusher said:

The Australian dollar work on commodities +a moron government so our days of getting 30 baht to $1 AUS are long gone sady . 

   I do hope the TB revovers as tourists and trade get back to normal. 

 

  Thanks for posting Mr.P , that was an interesting read.

got 23.48 aussie dollar  on wu this morning , would prefer 25+. the better half needs to keep her 5 star status going lol 

[Quietguy]

On 7/23/2021 at 6:15 PM, Quietguy said:

UK £ also up, to 45.34 Baht. 

Up again this week to 45.88 Baht. 

 

[markm]

shame for the aussie shekel its bottoming not topping 

[Pdoggg]

Today you can get 33.05 baht for the USD at the headquarters of SuperRich Thailand in Bangkok.

https://www.superrichthailand.com/#!/en/exchange

The TT Exchange booths in Pattaya are still less than 33 though.

https://ttexchange.com/exchange-rate

The rate for Visa card exchanges is 32.91 today if you have a card with no bank fee and a rebate of the 220 baht charge.

https://www.visa.co.th/en_TH/travel-with-visa/exchange-rate-calculator.html

 

[Pulci Gorgon]

This is strange. I have followed the topic from far away but I checked last week end and noticed a few facts. 

1) GBP has increased versus THB but GBP has also increase its rate in Euros. Meanwhile, the Euro rate in THB has also increased. In some sense GBP increase twice in THB. 

British Pound to Thai Baht Exchange Rate Chart | Xe

British Pound to Euro Exchange Rate Chart | Xe

Euro to Thai Baht Exchange Rate Chart | Xe

2) When comparing VND (Vietnamese Dong) and THB, VND strongly increased compared to THB. Vietnamese Dong to Thai Baht Exchange Rate Chart | Xe but got depreciated compared to GBP Vietnamese Dong to British Pound Exchange Rate Chart | Xe As a matter of fact, VND remains stable and strong in USD. This is really surprising given what's going on in Vietnam now (the economy is stopped and the situation is probably worse than in Thailand). 

 

[seven]

2 hours ago, Pulci Gorgon said:

1) GBP has increased versus THB but GBP has also increase its rate in Euros. Meanwhile, the Euro rate in THB has also increased. In some sense GBP increase twice in THB. 

Its thanks to Brexit.

[Pdoggg]

On 8/2/2021 at 8:16 AM, markm said:

shame for the aussie shekel its bottoming not topping 

The baht continues to weaken.

I've heard that in times of crisis the USD and Japanese yen do well as they are perceived as being less risky than the Canadian or Aussie Dollar.  I've also heard that the AUD and CAD are natural resource plays. 

A big part of the weakness of the baht has to do with the slow vaccine rollout. Perhaps this is also hurting the AUD.

Thailand's need to borrow money must also be hurting the baht.  The threat of civil unrest isn't helping the baht either.  Pro-government groups are saying that protesters are using biological warfare and are trying to intentionally spread Covid in their demonstrations.

But perhaps a weaker baht will be better for Thailand making rice, rubber,  and future tourism more affordable.

[markm]

23 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

The baht continues to weaken.

I've heard that in times of crisis the USD and Japanese yen do well as they are perceived as being less risky than the Canadian or Aussie Dollar.  I've also heard that the AUD and CAD are natural resource plays. 

A big part of the weakness of the baht has to do with the slow vaccine rollout. Perhaps this is also hurting the AUD.

Thailand's need to borrow money must also be hurting the baht.  The threat of civil unrest isn't helping the baht either.  Pro-government groups are saying that protesters are using biological warfare and are trying to intentionally spread Covid in their demonstrations.

But perhaps a weaker baht will be better for Thailand making rice, rubber,  and future tourism more affordable.

Indeed but the Aussie dollar has made very modest gains on the Thai baht. Given that the Aussie economy is quite strong and civil unrest is nearly non existent compared to the kingdom . The Thai baht is weakening but no where near what it should be considering  everything the Thai economy is going through . 

[Quietguy]

GB £ over 46 Baht today.