Thai Bhat

[SamplerDoc]

Hmmmmmmmmm
Whats with that Bhat?
A year ago it was close to 40 bhat to a USD and 4 months ago pushing 37.5 bhat per dollar.
Monday it was at 35 bhat per USD.

Is the dollar weak or is the Bhat just strong?
Is the Euro fairing any better?

How are you Guys in LOS making your home country currency last longer or get more for your money in LOS?

What is your strategy for making the most of your money?

[Snick]

Forecasting the Baht is like reading Tea Leaves.

[PigDogg]

SET was down 15% on Tuesday.

New regulations were implemented late Monday that scared the shit of of foreigners.

So late Tuesday they repealed much of the new regulation.   TIT.  

TTF one of the two CEFs that have a 100% Thai portfolio dropped 8% after Monday's announcement but regained much of that today.

Both the CEFs sell at a premium and I don't like buying at a premium.  If a Thai ETF was put together there'd be little reason top pay a premium for CEFs that also have high expense ratios.   and ETFs are multiplying like bedbugs.

The Thai government wants to weaken the baht which was the purpose of the new regs.

Strict anti dollar plays are somewhat expensive but an unhedged foreign index fund such as FSIIX is a cheap way to get some action action the dollar.

[Snick]

TTF is whack, its value seems to have no underlying relationship to the Thai Market. I keep an eye on it but have never bought any.

The Thai SET is now up 9% after closing down 14.5% yesterday, the Baht is just 1% weaker than before the new regulations were put in place.

All in all a perfect example of
Ready -- Fire -- Aim

[kahuna]

5 baht is like 14 cents USD...Not something that i would lose any sleep over...

[daveduke007]

The British POUND got 69.46 baht in november with cash.

I always use cash and change it in LOS.

The NO commision they say they dont charge in the UK is bollocks, as you will only get around 65 baht to the Pound if your lucky

Dave...

[PigDogg]

(Snick @ Dec. 19 2006,20:54) TTF is whack

Agreed Snick.

Below is a link to info about the open ended mutual fund that has the greatest Thai exposure. Not recomending it and the expense ratio is a little higher than I'd like. I don't own any.

Guinness Atkinson Asia Pacific Dividend GAADX

[Snick]

Looks good, take a look at macsx ( for reference, its closed )

I once "did the numbers" on the TTF and it was at minimum a 12% premium on the underlying stocks, and I thinks its worse now.

Living here, I now realize what a crooked and ill managed game the Thai market really is, and I have no interest in investing in it.

Back to the Baht and tuesday's fiasco:
What the Thai authorities tried to do actually made a little bit of sense, but the way they did was a disaster. In typical fashion they pass a new rule, without fully explaining it and leaving lots of ambiguities.

Ironically they make actually accomplish what they wanted to do, since the loss of confidence they earned will probably curb foreign money coming in and might slow the Bahts appreciation !!!

[PigDogg]

"This was not a mistake,"
Mr. Pridiyathorn said after the market closed Tuesday, in an attempt to defend the original decrees. "Measures always have side effects. Once we knew the side effects, we quickly fixed it."

Thais don't like losing face!

[SamplerDoc]

Lots of stories about the Bhat and SET in the WSJ today, very interesting reads.  That was in the Wall Street Journal for 12/20 if you all want to know.
They Basically are speaking about trying to control the rise in the the value of the bhat.  Now they really fricked it all up, eh?

Any good Stock buys cheap?  I think a few of the local banks took a good hit and are great value plays now.

[Snick]

Instead of buying stock in Thai Banks, why don't you just give me the money and I will use it to buy cans of Beer with a $0.05 refund. I will give you the empty cans and you will make 5% on your investment. Which is better than you will do with a Thai Bank stock.

[katoeylover]

I use this site to give mid market rates+

www.xe.com

[Soi8dave]

The British Pound has been around 70 baht for some time - its the US Dollar that has weakened. Large numbers of Brits are heading to the US for shopping and holidays - everything seems so good value in the State.

[Mai-Kee]

Spending!!!

[PigDogg]

For those of you who like buying CEFs at a discount, the Malaysia Fund trades at about 9% discount.

Malaysia Fund MF