Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

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Gaybutton
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Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

Post by Gaybutton »

To make a long story short, the baht has reached a 30 month high against the US dollar and is expected to get stronger. Thank you Mr. Trump . . . !!!

If you wish to read about it, see: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/fi ... month-high

You can check current exchange rates at: http://www.scb.co.th/scb_api/index.jsp
fountainhall

Re: Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

Post by fountainhall »

I always treat financial predictions with a heavy dose of salt having been burned too many times in the past. After all it's only six months ago that one thread based on a newspaper report highlighted the following -
Baht expected to reach 36 to US dollar in July - 37 by end of the year
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Re: Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

Post by Maple »

Bank of Thailand governor Veerathai Santiprabhob says "The dollar is weakening because of uncertainties regarding the US tax reform plan."
fountainhall

Re: Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

Post by fountainhall »

Considering the Baht has been strengthening against the US$ over the past year, that's a pretty meaningless statement from the Bank of Thailand governor. The peak was Bt. 36.04 last December and it has been a steady decline ever since.
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Re: Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote:The peak was Bt. 36.04 last December and it has been a steady decline ever since.
You know the old saying - "What goes up must come down."

The trouble is, the dollar keeps coming down . . .
Jun

Re: Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

Post by Jun »

Measuring the dollar against a basket of currencies, one could choose to interpret the chart as a having a long term underlying decline, with a lot of noise superimposed on top. Or possibly some other interpretation.

I choose the long term decline interpretation, which is about right for a country running up debts and persistently running a balance of trade deficit. ie They cannot manage to balance trade at the current exchange rate.

Whatever the interpretation, it is wise to assume the rates could fluctuate significantly either way on a 5 or 10 year time horizon.

If you want another example of a currency that has declined over the long term, for similar reasons, look at the GBP. That has a poor track record. I always assume further decline is possible. With all the debt, an incompetent government and seriously incompetent opposition, it seems likely.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Doll ... ot_com.png
Up2u

Re: Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

Post by Up2u »

The dollar has rebounded off month's of recent lows. I just did an ATM withdrawal with my VISA card and the exchange rate was 32.82, of course, far from the days of 35+ but every baht helps.
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Re: Baht at 30 month high against US dollar

Post by Gaybutton »

Up2u wrote:far from the days of 35+ but every baht helps.
Even farther from the days of 45 baht to the US dollar. I even remember just after the Asian economic crash it got to about 55 baht per US dollar. That lasted a little less than 2 weeks. My personal "Murphy's Law" dictated that it reached that level about 2 days after I had left Thailand and returned to the USA.

Unless something totally unexpected and extraordinary happens, I won't be holding my breath to see exchange rates like that again - at least not in this lifetime - but you never know.

Maybe the exchange rate is improving for us because investors are withdrawing dollars from Thailand in favor of investing in North Korean won - in anticipation of Trump's condos, hotels, and golf country clubs in Pyongyang (I suppose it would have to be Pyongyang, wouldn't it? Where else in North Korea is there any electricity . . . ?)

In the meantime, I'm with you. I'll take what I can get.
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