GBP vs THB

[sargeant]

PET yes the 150 baht is new but so is the 1% charge at the Nationwide end which is going up to 2% plus £1 fee in november

[PET]

PET yes the 150 baht is new but so is the 1% charge at the Nationwide end which is going up to 2% plus £1 fee in november

EASY - close Nationwide ?

[chopsticks]

After getting close to 52 Baht, now slumped right back to under 50

[nanyang]

You can understand how significant money is made by the speculators when the fluctuation over a few days is between 3 and 4%.

[chopsticks]

You can understand how significant money is made by the speculators when the fluctuation over a few days is between 3 and 4%.

.......and lose if they get it wrong. I would have guessed sterling continuing to strengthen to about 55 Baht, not start shrinking back again to below 50
Unless it's a blip...

[Spitfire]

Yes, the pound seems to be being a bit of a tease at the moment. Hopefully it will discontinue with the 'flatter to deceive' routine asap.

[redzonerocker]

.......and lose if they get it wrong.

but regain it again, when they've done a little more manipulating of the markets!

[Korkenzieher]

Chopsticks - from what I can see, THB/GBP is pretty closely shadowing USD/EUR so the sudden drop in the Euro the last few days relative to the dollar seems to be being shadowed by the THB/GBP cross. The graphs recently look pretty similar. I attribute it to the sudden resurgence of sovereign debt issues (Slovakia's parliament vetoing payments to Greece, Spanish growth being well below what is needed to drag themselves out of the mire). Stellar German figures might put a floor under it pretty quickly but short term sentiment can change quickly and for almost any reason.

[STEVE G]

I'm hoping it's just a combination of a slight surge on the Baht internationally hitting at the same time as a downwards correction on the Pound.
Personally I think the Pound will carry on creeping higher, but it will be a slow process.

[Spitfire]

Hope you're right Steve and others, I can't think about realistically buying a house here until it gets back to the high 50s or 60 and beyond, hoping it'll be somewhere around that by next Christmas. However, I'm no currency expert, just speculative hope.

[Korkenzieher]

@SteveG, and others

Certainly structurally and long term that is the way I see it, as I've made clear before. I've long been of the opinion that the $ is long term negative anyway, and Euroland has problems which are going to drag on and will likely make it the ultimate loser in the entire mess. That will pretty much default to GBP/THB trading higher over the longer term from here.

It probably isn't a common (popular?) view, but my feeling is that the UK comes out of this eventually smelling of roses. That might take some time, but it really is the only country which is taking solid corrective action (which largely has the support of the electorate unlike Greece, Spain); where the demographics hugely underpin asset markets (courtesy of NIMBY planning regulators), and is in the best position to clean up after the mess. Look at Investment Banking, the prime example. Wall Street has disappeared in effect. To allow the few remaining firms there to take on more business makes them even more systemically risky. Japan and Germany do their investment banking in London (Think Mizuho and Deutsche if you want names). The world is pretty much compelled now to go to London for its investment banking needs. May not be popular with the 'fiat currencies are dead' crowd, but at the end of the day, market seggregation in Euroland means Germany makes the cars, the UK handles the finances! The biggest risk IMHO in the UK's economy *in the long term* is the economic equivalent of a smash and grab raid from Brussels. Cameron's recent jaunt to India has all the hallmarks of a man who sees the way the prevailing winds are blowing, and is looking to make his people less dependant on whatever lunacy is dreamt up across the channel.

[JimmyGreaves]

The drop in the pound started as soon as the governor of the BOE said what he said last week:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10934302

[STEVE G]

That caused a brief drop in the pound/euro as well, but it quickly recovered.
You also had this at the same time:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... chart.html

[JimmyGreaves]

Well can it get any worse? Dropping badly against both the dollar and the euro

Baht @ 47.12

[Roel]

A long thread starting on 23 June 2008 with:

Looking a bit brighter now - todays ATM rate was 65.79 THB to GBP

Until today:

Well can it get any worse? Dropping badly against both the dollar and the euro

Baht @ 47.12

Reminds me of an old neighbour, an English pensioner, who told me many years that once the pound would drop under 70 baht he would no longer be able to make ends meet. But he was convinced - many years ago - that such thing could never happen. Wonder if he is still in Thailand.

Wonder how many people are really forced to leave Thailand because of the exchange rate?
Surely not the people who live in Hua Hin and own houses, but the small pensioners who (have to) live a more Thai life style. Just curious.