If you’re spending US dollars (or any other foreign currency) on your trips to Thailand, then you’ll be very interested in exchange rates. When I first came to Thailand one US$ bought about 39 Thai baht, and that soon rose to 41.
When I negotiated my first US-based contract for my business in Thailand, the 40 baht exchange rate meant that if I charged (say) US$25 per hour, I earned 1,000 Thai baht.
Over a period of several months, I watched as the US$ painfully dropped against the Thai baht to a level of about 33.5. This meant that the same US$25 would net me only about 840 baht — a 16% decrease in pay!
For those of you funding your holiday, this meant that everything was immediately 16% more expensive — even without factoring in inflation.
So, you have every reason to be interested in the direction of the currency here in Thailand.
I read a really good article in today’s Bangkok Post about exchange rates. You can read it by clicking here.
If you want to know the exchange rate between any two countries, you can use the XE.com Universal Currency Exchange Website. I’ve been using it for years and it offers a great tool that is easy to use.
If you use the ATM while you’re here and your transactions are cleared through visa (as mine are) you may find this site useful: http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_services/consumer_ex_rates.jsp?src=ex_rez
Many people may not realize that — due to capital controls imposed about a year ago — there are actually two seperate exchange rates, and that it is much more advantageous to draw your Thai baht from a an ATM in Thailand, or exchange your cash here, than to change it overseas. The difference is significant.
Update 26 January 2008
BTW, I plugged in the information to obtain exchange rates today. XE.com gave an exchange rate of 31.307 baht to the US$, while the visa page quoted 33.06.
The XE figure represents the international exchange rate (i believe its the midpoint between buying and selling) and actually has a note that says: “Notice: The THB rate shown below is the international rate. Rates used within Thailand may vary.”
The Visa page rate is the one that tells me how much I will receive if I withdraw US$ at an ATM in Thailand.
You can see that if I withdraw (say) $2,000 at a Thai ATM I will receive about 3,500 baht more than if I exchanged the money in America before coming to Thailand. How much is 3,500 baht? It’s at least one — and probably two — short time sessions, or 5 blow jobs at Lolitas. So, plan your cash exchange carefully!
January 24, 2008 at 6:34 pm |
Yes the exchange rate is steadily getting worse here. What’s really bad was when I lived in Europe, got paid in USD and saw the rise of the Euro.
Introduction of the Euro – $1 USD = 1.20 euros all the way to $1 USD = .70 euro cents! 40% paycut admist rising prices due to incorrect adjustment between the local country currencies to the Euro. Now that was bad!
January 24, 2008 at 6:42 pm |
I believe it was around 25 baht to US$1 when I first was in Thailand, around 1991 or so. So not too bad in those terms.
Who knows which way the world’s gonna go in the next 12 months anyway, with stock markets plunging, and America’s economy looking decidedly shaky.
January 24, 2008 at 6:53 pm |
Do you think the freelancers will take this into consideration?
January 24, 2008 at 7:15 pm |
When I first got here it was 20 to the dollar, but the price of a S/T was $2.50 All night was $5.00. A pair of pants $7.00 a short sleeve shirt 2.50. It’s all relative!!
January 26, 2008 at 12:26 pm |
Thongsuk was kind enough to email me this URL, which he says explains everything. It’s a short video from u-tube that I think most people will enjoy:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/187.html