Thai baht soars to six-month high against US dollar

The Thai baht opened at 34.78 against the US dollar today, strengthening from yesterday’s close of 35 to a six-month high.

The baht’s sudden rise is down to the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) hiking the policy rate by a quarter point earlier this week.

The BOT remains committed to a gradual monetary tightening policy, raising the policy rate from 1% to 1.25% on Wednesday.

Economic growth this year is expected to be at 3.2%, lower than the prior projection of 3.3%, according to the central bank. The BOT also cut its 2023 growth forecast to 3.7% from 3.8%.

Thailand’s currency is facing pressure from the depreciating US dollar, gold sales, and foreign investors possibly buying more Thai bonds amid continuous drops in the US 10-Year bond yields.

Investors might want to sell the baht now as it edges near the support level of 34.75. Once it hits the support level, it could depreciate again.

Although, US labour data coming out this weak could impact the baht’s value. Low employment rates could help the baht but high levels of employment could weaken the baht, so it’s up to investors whether to hold out and see.

Krungthai market specialist Poon Panichpibool advised investors to use hedging tools in the highly-volatile currency market.

Economists have high hopes for the baht in the long run. Capital Market Research Specialist at Kasikorn Bank Kittika Boonsrang predicts…

“I expect the Thai baht to get a high that could be around 33.50 to 34.00 per US dollar by the end of next year.”

The forecast will only be achievable if Thailand pumps up exports and ramps up tourist arrivals, added Kittika.

Other regional currencies have also strengthened against the greenback amid hopes that China will ease up their Covid-19 restrictions.

Currencies have been highly sensitive to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary tightening this year which was designed to fix high inflation rates in the US.

Source - The Thaiger

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Bangkok ranks 6th out of 50 cities worldwide in Expat City Ranking 2022, Friendly atmosphere a highlight

Bangkok ranks 6th out of 50 cities in the Expat City Ranking 2022, performing best for personal finance and worst for working abroad and quality of life.  

– In 2022, Valencia (1st), Dubai, Mexico City, Lisbon, Madrid, Bangkok, Basel, Melbourne, Abu Dhabi, and  Singapore (10th) are the top 10 cities for ex-pats to live in.  

– On the other hand, ex-pats consider Johannesburg (50th), Frankfurt, Paris, Istanbul, Hong Kong,  Hamburg, Milan, Vancouver, Tokyo, and Rome (41st) the world’s worst cities to live in.  

Bangkok ranks 6th out of 50 in the Expat City Ranking 2022 by  InterNations, the world’s largest ex-pat community with over 4.5 million members.

The city excels when it comes to both Personal Finance and the Ease of Settling In, ranking among the top 5 in both indices. While it gets somewhat mixed results in the Expat Essentials Index (22nd) — ex-pats find it easy to find housing but are unhappy with the digitization and local bureaucracy — Bangkok performs worst for both the Quality of Life and Working Abroad.

 The Expat City Ranking is based on the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations. It is one of the most extensive surveys about living and working abroad, with 11,970 respondents in 2022. A total of  50 cities around the globe are featured this year, offering in-depth information about five areas of ex-pat life: Quality of Life, Ease of Settling In, Working Abroad, Personal Finance, and the new Expat  Essentials Index, which covers digital life, admin topics, housing, and language.  

Expats Enjoy Life without Monetary Concerns

Bangkok ranks 6th out of 50 cities in the Expat City Ranking 2022 and 2nd worldwide in the Personal  Finance Index. Expats are not only happy with the general cost of living (69% vs. 45% globally), but affordability is also a highlight in the Expat Essentials Index (22nd).

Source - Pattaya News

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Bangkok - Why aren’t tourists returning to Khao San Road?

The past few years have been dark for tourism in Thailand and around the world. The Covid-19 global pandemic closed borders and killed tourism in so many crucial areas. Khao San Road, the vibrant, bustling backpacker haven of Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok quickly fell into a desolate ghost town. Now, the last pandemic restrictions have been lifted, and the government is constantly reporting floods of international tourists bringing Thailand back to life. But vendors on Khao San Road say they’re just not seeing the tourism numbers that were predicted even as all Covid restrictions have been lifted.

The popular tourist neighbourhood took a beating when restrictions started rolling out. Bars were among the first businesses to close, and authorities did everything they could to prevent poorly ventilated crowded places to operate in the face of airborne disease. So Khao San Road – packed densely full of eating and drinking backpackers and cafes, street bars, and shops crowding them for their business – was a prime target to be shut down for most of the pandemic.

The Bangkok Post recently interviewed vendors on the street now though, and they all say that they have not seen the crowds come surging back even as the last of the pandemic restrictions were lifted last month. They are calling on the government the launch tourism campaigns luring international travellers back to Khao San Road and the surrounding area. One vendor selling clothing in a street stall appealed to foreigners to return.

“We’re still waiting for them…. come back to Khao San. We still need all of you. There are few foreign customers today. Before the pandemic, I earned around 5,000–6,000 baht a day, but now I earn just 1,000–2,000 baht a day. After the pandemic, most foreign tourists are more careful with spending. It’s even harder to close a sale each time. They want me to give them a big discount.”

Vendors called on the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Tourism Authority of Thailand to focus their efforts on raising awareness of unrestricted travel in Thailand. They also want help promoting that while many costs have skyrocketed in the industry, accommodation is still affordable on Khao San Road, and the area is linked to plenty of tourist attractions. The road lies just a short walk from the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo. Great shopping, dining, and other attractions are just a short hop away.

A pad Thai seller said she was happy to be back on Khao San Road for the first time since the pandemic, even though she is earning half as much as before. But she called on the government to support the area, promoting holidays and events. Before the coronavirus, Khao San was packed for every special event or holiday.

“We have not celebrated the new year and the Songkran festivals together for two years. So, the government must organise these two big events next year and should regularly promote events every holiday to encourage tourists to visit.”

Source - The Thaiger

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Russian invasion takes Thailand’s tourism forces by surprise

Russian invasion takes Thailand’s tourism forces by surprise
The Russians are coming! The recent mass Russian invasion of Thailand has taken the country’s tourism forces completely by surprise.

Unexpected numbers of tourists from the war-torn county have tourism operators scrambling to cope with an army of independent travellers, more than capable of looking after themselves, and left commentators scrambling to occupy the moral high ground.

Despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian tourism market has returned much quicker than expected, said Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) president Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn.

Tourism businesses and providers of guides and buses are remarkably poorly prepared for the influx, despite months or even years of doing very little.

ATTA more focused on assisting tour operators than actual tourists, is preoccupied with the dissemination of marketing information to a group that has their own ideas about what they want from their time in the kingdom.

Russia ranks only 13th this year in terms of Thailand’s source markets with 230,000 happy travellers besieging beaches, temples and the ever-popular red-light districts across the country. However, arrivals have increased significantly this month via Aeroflot flights from Novosibirsk and chartered flights. Pattaya and Phuket are the main destinations for chartered flights from Russia.

ATTA’s Adith Chairattananon said there are increasing inquiries from Russian agents when it comes to tour packages to Thailand, prodding idling cash-strapped tour operators back to life earlier than expected.

Bemoaning the independent thinking of Russian arrivals, Adith said…

“There are very few Thai operators who specialise in the Russian market — most of the players are native Russians.

“As those local specialists in the Russian market have yet to resume operations. Thai operators that are not fluent in this market are likely to face a few hiccups after being closed for a long time as they try to restart their businesses.”

Adith said it would take until the beginning of next year for his members to adjust to the new Russian flavour of visitors.

Sisdivachr claimed that numbers of visitors from India, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore have already fully returned, despite limited flight capacity and clear evidence to the contrary on the beaches and islands. Previously vital markets in northern Asia such as Taiwan and Japan remain flat, Sisdivachr said.

With no signs of China reopening during President Xi Jinping’s recent attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok, Sisdivachr said it will take a while before overall performance improves.

Source - The Thaiger

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Fifa Threatens To Cut Off Live World Cup Broadcast Over Infringement

THE Fédération Internationale de Football Association  (Fifa) today (Nov. 23) threatened to cut off the live broadcast of World Cup 2022 knockout stage matches that begins on Dec. 3 and ends on Dec. 18 with the final match after it discovered licence infringement with signals spreading from Thailand to other countries, Thai Rath newspaper said.

Fifa warned Thailand to urgently fix this leak to other countries or else it will halt the live broadcast which would prevent Thai football fans from watching the biggest global football tournament.

Sports Authority of Thailand Governor Kongsak Yodmanee has sent a letter to National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) to inform all digital terrestrial television programme providers, including all five multiplex networks and Thaicom Plc, as well as set-top-box and cable service providers under must-carry regulation, to comply with the Fifa licence terms.

Source - Asian Now

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#Thailand - APEC leaders attend a royal meeting with the King, Queen, Princess

With Bangkok full of top-level officials from around the world or that APEC summit this week, a special royal appearance was made. His Royal Majesty King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana treated leaders from the APEC meeting to an audience with them last night.

The meeting took place on the grounds of the Grand Palace in the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall. The royal couple was joined by Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Rajakanya to greet the foreign dignitaries. Each international bigwig was presented to the King and Queen byPM Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Among the international political leaders in attendance at the private audience with the Royal Family were Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the president of France Emmanuel Macron, and US Vice President Kamala Harris. Leaders from China, Japan, and Canada also joined in the meeting with the Royal Family.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is wrapping up today with the final official statement being drafted and signed. The statement will include commitments and road maps for the region, including the United States pledging to open small modular nuclear power plants in Thailand. There is some reported contention in putting out a statement on Russia with most – but not all – attendees speaking out again their invasion of Ukraine.

Before the summit ended though, some of the leaders were able to attend this meeting with the Royals. In the Throne Hall, they took souvenir photos with the Royal Family which will be framed in silver niello. The Thai government will present that framed photo, along with six other special souvenirs to the attendees, according to Thai PBS World.

Source - The Thaiger

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APEC 22: Immigration announce results of crackdown on foreign illegals ahead of international meet

#Thailand's Immigration Bureau - that last week along with tourist police mobilized 550 men - announced the result of a pre APEC 22 crackdown.

Results of the efforts on Thursday to Saturday last week were announced by IB chief Pol Lt-Gen Phakphoomphiphat Sajjaphan and other senior immigration police on Sunday.

A total of 785 foreigners on overstay were rounded up.

Some 1,249 people who illegally entered the kingdom were found.  

 Warnings and advice were issued to 2,723 foreigners about reporting their address in Bangkok.

587 people like landlords and owners of properties where migrants and foreigners stay were fined for not reporting under Article 38 of the IB code.

Thousands more were also refused entry.

 Thai Rath also reported further developments on the arrest of a Chinese national called Sao and his Thai driver Satawat, 36. He was driving his boss around as if he were a diplomat.

Two Chinese nationals named only as Lee, 27, and Hoo, 40, were arrested on Interpol Red Notices.

Jang, a Taiwanese was found using a Cambodian passport and following contact with the Taiwanese embassy he was found to be another person and was mixed up in call center fraud in the Philippines.  

Source - Asian Now

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