The rate on the street.

[nkped 1,208]

Got 32.65 to the USD on a credit card payment at Bangkok Hospital today.

[jacko 8,822]

Test Post, Sterling has hit lows this week.

[keyman 1,413]

11 hours ago, jacko said:

Test Post, Sterling has hit lows this week.

Don't know if you posted an image in this post, but I can't see one.

[jacko 8,822]

12 hours ago, keyman said:

Don't know if you posted an image in this post, but I can't see one.

No I didn't so I think things are OK. May get a pic from TT later today.

[jacko 8,822]

Today's rates, not great for Christmas!

[js007 795]

I just read that Thailand just raised interest rates, for whatever that's worth.  Should strengthen the Baht a little?

[Grandpollo 366]

If you understand arbitrage then yes it would however it's a factor among other things. 

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

I find that the British Pound tends to weaken before holidays including Christmas. I smell a rat and Joe Public being fleeced |

[Bazle 1,500]

About 19:45 on 24 Dec. at TT on Second Road:

[jacko 8,822]

Today AM, 28th December.

If you have just landed from UK, you may want to go back home!

 

 

[nkped 1,208]

Made a somewhat significant credit card purchase today and got 20 satang better than the T-T rate to the USD.  I'm confused.

[jacko 8,822]

13 hours ago, nkped said:

Made a somewhat significant credit card purchase today and got 20 satang better than the T-T rate to the USD.  I'm confused.

I presume that means you are using baht to buy dollars, that rate is usually 40 satang larger than buying baht , selling USD (which is what we are normally doing). Maybe that explains it?

Edited December 29, 2018 by jacko

[nkped 1,208]

6 hours ago, jacko said:

I presume that means you are using baht to buy dollars, that rate is usually 40 satang larger than buying baht , selling USD (which is what we are normally doing). Maybe that explains it?

Purchase charged on the card in baht.  Usually, that will result in approximately the same  rate as T-T.

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

Saw less than 40 baht(39+) for Sterling yesterday at a usually good place in London. First time in memory. Not good.

 

[jacko 8,822]

Ouch ouch ouch...

 

 

[tallguy 1,479]

1 hour ago, jacko said:

Ouch ouch ouch...

 

 

Better than yesterday. I saw 40.10 in the TT near Bodega bar yesterday.

[jacko 8,822]

11 hours ago, tallguy said:

Better than yesterday. I saw 40.10 in the TT near Bodega bar yesterday.

Yesterday, when I looked up the rate being offered by the Bangkok Bank in the morning, before the first 8am update, I got a bit of a shock as it had dropped below the 40.0...eek! By the first morning update it had manged to cross back over that number. I also have a spreadsheet with a plot on it (I know, get a life), I have had to lower the bottom/ minimum range a few times over the years, but never ever thought 40 would be tested!

[marleyboy 140]

Im "hoping"! that when this brexit vote gets sorted out....sometime next week...that the pound will at least stabilise! I somehow doubt it though!

 

I will be there in just under 4 weeks......Id best bring more money than usual I guess...........under 40 to the £ would b a right kick in the nuts!

 

Luckily..........the older I get....the less I drink....just as well really!

[jacko 8,822]

27 minutes ago, marleyboy said:

Luckily..........the older I get....the less I drink....just as well really!

There are a lot of guys eking out that bottle of Chang sat on Buakhao stools at the moment. Some make that first one last until 10 am! (Not sure if that is from 9am or 2am!)

Edited January 5, 2019 by jacko

[martini9946 129]

I arrive in thailand in ten days so i wandered in to tesco store in the uk  to check the rate wow they was offering 37.40 Bhat to the pound  

 

[tallguy 1,479]

37 minutes ago, martini9946 said:

I arrive in thailand in ten days so i wandered in to tesco store in the uk  to check the rate wow they was offering 37.40 Bhat to the pound  

 

40.48 in the TT near  Bodega as I am typing.

[marleyboy 140]

9 hours ago, jacko said:

There are a lot of guys eking out that bottle of Chang sat on Buakhao stools at the moment. Some make that first one last until 10 am! (Not sure if that is from 9am or 2am!)

One of the "saddest" things I see in Thailand.....are expats, drinking beer, outside small shops (not only 7-11 and family mart etc ......presumably cheap too!) in the morning...I mean at breakfast time....then all day too.

 

I  like a drink.but I see lots of expats end up this way..................

With the way the exchange rates are going, I  wonder if this will become more common place. ?

When In Pattaya, I stay over  the darkside....I do of course see the same thing in Pattaya town...a

 

Luckily I dont start drinking until the evening! Then when I do its only at bars...

 

There again..........this drinking cheap beer, outside shops on street pavememnts!, might just be because they are bored....and have nothing better to do?!   Whatever it is. I think its sad!

[Butch 3,456]

10 hours ago, marleyboy said:

One of the "saddest" things I see in Thailand.....are expats, drinking beer, outside small shops (not only 7-11 and family mart etc ......presumably cheap too!) in the morning...I mean at breakfast time....then all day too.

 

I  like a drink.but I see lots of expats end up this way..................

With the way the exchange rates are going, I  wonder if this will become more common place. ?

When In Pattaya, I stay over  the darkside....I do of course see the same thing in Pattaya town...a

 

Luckily I dont start drinking until the evening! Then when I do its only at bars...

 

There again..........this drinking cheap beer, outside shops on street pavememnts!, might just be because they are bored....and have nothing better to do?!   Whatever it is. I think its sad!

I agree, it is sad and it is also a poor reflection on farangs in general. I used to call them "lost souls", the balloon chasing budget watching tightwad expat who never leaves a tip and makes a pig of hmself at any free buffet, that was even a few years ago when it was over 50 baht to the sterling. Then again, it's probably no measure of wealth. I have an expat mate who is as tight as a ducks arse, yet he is pulling in £2.5k a month net and sits on half a million quids worth of property assets, yet he still drinks draft and his wardrobe consists of singha singlets and cargo shorts, he rents a real dump of a place just this side of sukhumvit, so I guess there are exceptions to every rule.

I can't think of anything worse than being in funtown with no money to enjoy it.

I know that some of these guys live literally week to week, and have a daily budget of a few hundred baht in some cases, so any decrease in the rate or increase in costs will always hit them hard. It's not due to boredom, it's due to falling into a rut and not being able to get out of it. If you ever talk to these guys (and I know a few of them) they always bemoan the 2 week millionaires (but happily accept a drink from them), they have a heirarchy of dislike, with big spending Asians at the top, followed by Thai males, baht bus drivers, two week tourists, bar owners, Indians and Russians (the last few in no particular order). They convince themselves and try to convince you that they are living the dream. Well, my dream doesn't match up with sitting outside a supermarket drinking cheap beer at 10:00 in the morning . They also have a self imposed sense of superiority, on the basis that they live there and I don't, ergo it stands to reason I know fuckall about the place.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons I couldn't and wouldn't live in Pattaya. As with anything, the novelty wears off after a while. I'll have even money that the most stalwart of Expats on this board sometimes feel that the hassle of going to a GGB is really not worth it, and they would rather stay at home, as opposed to us tourists who, even if we're laid low with the Pattaya flu will drag ourselves out of bed just to maximise our time there.

Anyway, sorry for my TF and going off topic. Don't expect sterling to get any better until Brexit is agreed or over with, meanwhile a stronger Baht will have double the effect. The GBP and PHP rates are not that fantastic either.

 

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

It's hard to judge people by how they dress or look. In London I know this Indian chap who behaves like a simpleton. My barowner friend knows him a long time and tells me he owns 3 houses in the area. Houses are not cheap in London. He is not a spender either so I feel the money is of little use to him. He would gladly let you buy him beer all day if you were stupid enough.

[jacko 8,822]

Friday afternoon. 11 Jan2019.