General Reports

[QUOTE=Easy2007]I posted some time ago that the Baht had been held "artificially strong" in order for a few "Elites" to transfer money out of Thailand, before the inevitable "devaluation process" gets into full swing by March 2009.
...
[/QUOTE]Arrgghh,

Would be interesting to know how a currency can be held "artificially strong", especially if this happens in order for a few "Elites" to transfer money out of Thailand. To transfer money OUT means to sell THB and buy another currency - a process that should usually weaken a currency, especially if it is a significat amount.

In fact the THB was quite stabile because of the measures from BOT in the attempt to stop the appreciation of the THB in 2007 and the beginning of 2008. Otherwise the THB had reached much higher levels against the USD ( < 30 ). This fact slowed the ongoing devaluation process at the beginning. But most likely the momentum will pick up now.

All this has not much to do with the actual government, as long as we don't have political or civil unrest in the country. Even our beloved ex-PM Thaksin could not have avoided the world wide recession :) .



Giotto

Continuing on a little translating errors discuccion with Soap Fan

In the Nation a week ago a English Lady was complaining about the wrong spelling on road signs, menus, names from places and towns etc, saying that it was time for the Thai to learn proper English, WOW. A lot of non Thai people got straight in to defence and one was saying clearly that it was up to here to learn Thai instead of complaining, it’s the land from the Thai and there is no obligation for Thai to do so, We have to be more than happy that that they try hard at least. Another one was saying that the English language is not phonetic and difficult to write, its highly formal but most write it the way we speak, (with many errors) there where other languages using tends to vary there grammatical forms. So why blame the Thai on this.

All this came to my attention wile this subject is my almost daily discussion with my English native friends wherever I am in the world in non English native countries, they always complaining the lack of English wherever, I defend the locals right away and there answer to me is always the same, O yes, its easy for you as you speak so many languages, just like it came on is own without any effort from my site, BS, yes I am gifted with languages skills but to me Thai is also difficult but at least I try, I keep always little notes in Thai and English in my pocket, using them depending on the subject and it putt’s me many times in a favourable position if they see that at least, you try, A guy like Mick Licker as a big advantage on this issue as he said, he is Australian and does he speaks or read Thai without practicing or a bit effort. No don’t think so.

For example, BK immigration office documents are already in English and they have actually no obligation to do so, If you stay in most Latin or Balkan country’s you have to hire a lawyer to translate and do the work for you.

English is only the third biggest language in the world after Chinese and Spanish, Spanish as officially 440 million speakers over 21 countries and heavily growing even in the US where officially in 2030 it will overpass English in the US, even not talking about Arabic that is heavily moving forward, can one expect road sign in Chinese or Spanish in city’s like Detroit, London or Paris, no way, Arab in Europe maybe since we are to tolerant on that one.

Finally back to the Thai issue, What they translate for example on road signs etc is actually not English. The word bridge and road is English that’s clear, but the name itself is a conversion from the Thai phonetic word in a western alphabet readable grammatical standard word, depending on the person that translate the word, his own pronunciation will lead to writing errors and what we finally see. With a bit imagination we all find our way, as someone had doubts to go in to a MP with a spelling error on the sign saying Massar instead of Massage don’t thinks LOL.

I am not a teacher or writer but it’s just my two cents on it

John

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Over the last 5 weeks I have been several times scrolling trough Soi coboy, having a beer here and there and at least 5 times in Suzy Wong, on the stage only 5 or 7 girls from a below 4 on our scale, few customers, same as everywhere even on a Friday night, never seen a lesbian show as before, when I asked for it to mamas and she said, wait later on will com but it was only WOFT.

I like the signs that girls are showing on the street to get clients inside.

We have more girls inside than you can handle, another one says.

20 ugly girls inside and even some fat ones (yes have seen a few there)

Looked in to a few other clubs but faced the same problem, sometimes even did finish my drink and getting frustrated from seeing guys with the little elephant again in the street.

Only Tilac as the most stunning girls on stage was always packed till late, girls showing clients there little pussy from below the miniskirt, how can you resist to look closer, at least I had a good time there few nights, took also my Mrs with me to show that I can behave (when necessary)

My first and last drink was mainly at County Road with the life band, always full with people, fun and dancing, not a bad place at all (avoid the time with the Elvis imitator, he is shit I know him for a long time and treat with his jokes farangs like shit). Wondered when Rawhide will be open again, looks like renovation does not move on.

John Euro

[QUOTE=John Euro]Continuing on a little translating errors discuccion with Soap Fan

In the Nation a week ago a English Lady was complaining about the wrong spelling on road signs, menus, names from places and towns etc, saying that it was time for the Thai to learn proper English, WOW. [/QUOTE]

Street signs in Thailand have both Thai and a transliteration not into English at all, but into an English alphabet.

So
Sukhumvit is actually pronounced more like
Sook-koom-wit (with all "oo" short like a German u)

ChaoPhraya river
is pronounced like
Jao-pra-yar

So how did our J sound become Ch and how did our W sound become V in these transliterations? A bit of a mystery. Ph is not pronounced like F!

Now the really difficult bit.
Several sounds in Thai do not exist in English and Visa Versa.

Don Muang airport cannot be pronounced correctly by westerners without training.
Dawn Mueang would be a better spelling but still not close.

Thais cannot pronounce "Massage" without special training and its no suprise they would spell it strangely.
The "age" part of the sound does not exist in Thai.

Does does anyone want "Ma-sard"? :D

But Thai language is actually easier to learn than English once you understand tones, due to:

1. Thai has much more consistent spelling than English. 90% of words can be spelled correctly by hearing them.
2. When reading unfamiliar Thai words, can pronounce them correctly. This is not possible in English.
3. Thai has very simple grammer.
4. Thai words do not change endings for plural, case, verb tense, person, or declension. Thai merely adds additional words for plurals or verb tenses.
This is incredibly easy.

Learning Thai takes mere mortals like me years of study. The first few months are devoted to pronunciation problems. After that its merely learning vocab, and how to construct sentences in Thai style.
But Thais are very forgiving of bad grammar,
providing words are pronounced close to correctly.
But, unlike English, with wrong vowel sound in a word, they will have no idea what you are talking about.
Wrong tone and they will just be amused.

One confusing point is that some western intransitive verbs become transitive in Thai, or visa versa.
e.g. The fish is smelling bad
in Thai becomes
"phom men plaa"
"I get bad smell from the fish"

P.S. I would tend to discourage Americans from learning Thai unless they are going to really make an effort with pronunciation.

Thai spoken with American lengthened vowel sound drawl sounds really appalling. Germans speaking Thai sound vastly better (in general).
I can't really tell how bad I sound! LOL

[QUOTE=Giotto]Arrgghh,

Would be interesting to know how a currency can be held "artificially strong", especially if this happens in order for a few "Elites" to transfer money out of Thailand. To transfer money OUT means to sell THB and buy another currency - a process that should usually weaken a currency, especially if it is a significat amount.

In fact the THB was quite stabile because of the measures from BOT in the attempt to stop the appreciation of the THB in 2007 and the beginning of 2008. Otherwise the THB had reached much higher levels against the USD ( < 30 ). This fact slowed the ongoing devaluation process at the beginning. But most likely the momentum will pick up now.

All this has not much to do with the actual government, as long as we don't have political or civil unrest in the country. Even our beloved ex-PM Thaksin could not have avoided the world wide recession :) .



Giotto[/QUOTE]
In the Western banking world there are some educated (if that's not a misnomer for Western bankers :D) opinions that the Baht [I]has[/I] been kept artificially high at not inconsiderable expense to Thailand by Thai banking currency policy in order to stop a catastrophic run on the Baht, and that they can't afford to do so for much longer. Can a few Elites get large sums of money out of Thailand at favourable exchange rates without buying/selling currency on the open markets and without being excessively flagged up? Is the Pope a Catholic? Will they be doing so? Is the Pope the leader of the Catholic church? Would Thaksin and his cronies be doing the same if they were the ones with their snouts in the trough rather than the current lot? Of course, TIT.

[QUOTE=Terry Terrier]In the Western banking world there are some educated (if that's not a misnomer for Western bankers :D) opinions that the Baht [I]has[/I] been kept artificially high at not inconsiderable expense to Thailand by Thai banking currency policy in order to stop a catastrophic run on the Baht, and that they can't afford to do so for much longer. [/QUOTE]

If this is the case, then some of us (that have more than a few baht saved up) better start buying currencies before it drops down.
Any "Educated" bankers out there with a valuable opinion?

By the way, I heard the pope wasn't a Catholic, rumor has it he is gay.

[QUOTE=Terry Terrier]In the Western banking world there are some educated (if that's not a misnomer for Western bankers :D) opinions that the Baht [I]has[/I] been kept artificially high at not inconsiderable expense to Thailand by Thai banking currency policy in order to stop a catastrophic run on the Baht, and that they can't afford to do so for much longer. [/QUOTE]Terry Terrier,

Let's go a bit into details.

In 2006 the THB appreciated strongly against most major currencies, especially also against the competing Asian currencies. On 18th of December 2006 the BOT then implemented a capital control measure, which forced investors to keep a 30 % reserve of certain capital inflows on accounts of the BOT, for a specified time period (1 year, if I remember correctly).

What followed was that the appreciation of the THB was slowed and then stopped, and we had to deal with an on-shore and an off-shore exchange rate for the THB.

This measure was dropped on 29th of February 2008.

This capital reserve policy is something I would call a measure to "artificially" keep the THB [b]low[/b], the official reading that time was, that this measure was necessary to give the Thai exporters time to adjust to the extraordinary strengthening of the Thai currency.

After the measure was lifted the markets adjusted to it, and postponed capital inflows might have taken place which most likely strengthened/stabilized the THB during 2008. The movement of the Thai currency within this period was in line with the movements of other Asian currencies - it is really difficult to see anything "artificially" happening there during late 2008 / early 2009.

The depreciation process has now started, and due to the problems of the export industry and lower number of tourists coming to Thailand the demand for THB will fall, so most likely the currency will slowly devaluate against other currencies. But - the economies of other countries are in the same bad situation, many are in a even worse shape - this makes a collapse of the THB (as we saw it in 1998) unlikeky at the moment.

[QUOTE=Terry Terrier]Can a few Elites get large sums of money out of Thailand at favourable exchange rates without buying/selling currency on the open markets and without being excessively flagged up?[/QUOTE]Most likely not. If they transfer the currency without buying/selling on the currency market they still have THB - so why whould they do it. To find a buyer for large amounts of THB on the OTC markets or even privately is highly unlikely, especially in a time of recession, in which investors prefer to hold USD, Swiss Francs or Japanese Yen. If they want to hedge their positions they could sell THB short outside of Thailand, but this would have an impact on the currency, and it would be visible. If they exchanged the THB against a major currency INSIDE Thailand (for large amounts nearly impossible, but let's assume they found a way of doing so) and then move the major currency out (eg. USD) the currency reserves of Thailand would fall, which would be visible, too, and also had an immediate depreciating impact on the THB.

Btw.: I think those "Elites" will even appreciate a weaker THB at the moment, cheaper exports, better exchange rates for tourists ... the major part of the wealth of those "Elites" is invested in all kind of land, equity etc. etc. here in Thailand, and they want these investments to be profitable.


Giotto

PS: I don't know anything about the pope, so I leave this discussion to others :) !

[quote=terry terrier]in the western banking world there are some educated (if that's not a misnomer for western bankers :d) opinions that the baht [i]has[/i] been kept artificially high at not inconsiderable expense to thailand by thai banking currency policy in order to stop a catastrophic run on the baht, and that they can't afford to do so for much longer. can a few elites get large sums of money out of thailand at favourable exchange rates without buying/selling currency on the open markets and without being excessively flagged up? is the pope a catholic? will they be doing so? is the pope the leader of the catholic church? would thaksin and his cronies be doing the same if they were the ones with their snouts in the trough rather than the current lot? of course, tit.[/quote]for the last year, singapore and malaysian bank investment advisors (standard chartered and maybank) have been warning against keeping all of your money based in straight baht accounts in thailand. if you are holding large amounts in cash in thai, you can (should) use the bangkok bank foreign currency account, and make a large percentage of your holdings as usd (or any of the eight other currencies available at bb.)

all it would take is a few days of strong hits to the thai banking system to watch the baht crater faster than your chocolate dip swensen's ice cream cone on a hot day walking to the ratchathewi bts.

the generally accepted [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord116][CodeWord116][/url] right now is that the baht will be trading at 39-40 b/d by the end of the year 2009. no fiscal emergencies required. thailand needs foreign investment... desperately. the chinese are only too happy to oblige, at the right level of course.

now back to the best/worst way to spend your money here in thailand.

(the girls.)

[QUOTE=Giotto]

Most likely not. If they transfer the currency without buying/selling on the currency market they still have THB - so why whould they do it. To find a buyer for large amounts of THB on the OTC markets or even privately is highly unlikely, especially in a time of recession, in which investors prefer to hold USD, Swiss Francs or Japanese Yen. If they want to hedge their positions they could sell THB short outside of Thailand, but this would have an impact on the currency, and it would be visible. If they exchanged the THB against a major currency INSIDE Thailand (for large amounts nearly impossible, but let's assume they found a way of doing so) and then move the major currency out (eg. USD) the currency reserves of Thailand would fall, which would be visible, too, and also had an immediate depreciating impact on the THB.

Giotto

PS: I don't know anything about the pope, so I leave this discussion to others :) ![/QUOTE]

Hi Giotto,

Your explanation is correct if you are only trying to hedge your currency reserve through currency exchange on the currency markets. But also keep in mind that if you want to purchase a stable commodity, like gold, you can do so with Thai Baht, as an example, and then sell it (the gold) in USD hence turning your Baht into USD. Which we have been seeing over the last 6-8 months. Granted gold was undervalued for many moons, I would say 18 months. Then all of a sudden it went up to recommended values then surpassed it in a short period of time, less then 3 months. Today gold is quit high. Thais are not the only ones 'Transferring' there founds out by commodity. The Japanese are doing this as well as smart British investors, but with the crash of the pound I would say they traded out to USD. Other commodities where also affected by this. Sometime ago we can remember what happened with Wheat and Rice. there was no supply or demand issue but the prices went through the roof. Hence a run, which coincided with the fixing of the Thai Baht, The Yen dropping against the over inflated Euro and so on. Rich people and companies move there money thru commodities more so then the Currency markets. Currency markets are for investors and banks.

IMHO

Slylock

PS I also don't know anything about the pope!

Exactly TT. It said that this little "support the baht" escapade has really run down the governments reserves, to the point of soon they might be bankrupt.

Wonder why Abhisit was "cap in hand" borrowing from the Japanese recently. Ah yes. Obviously they just think borrowing money is "in vogue" and its not because they have already screwed up the finances.

A very severe devaluation of the baht looks increasing likely, step by step, but not stopping for some time.

[QUOTE=Terry Terrier]In the Western banking world there are some educated (if that's not a misnomer for Western bankers :D) opinions that the Baht [I]has[/I] been kept artificially high at not inconsiderable expense to Thailand by Thai banking currency policy in order to stop a catastrophic run on the Baht, and that they can't afford to do so for much longer. Can a few Elites get large sums of money out of Thailand at favourable exchange rates without buying/selling currency on the open markets and without being excessively flagged up? Is the Pope a Catholic? Will they be doing so? Is the Pope the leader of the Catholic church? Would Thaksin and his cronies be doing the same if they were the ones with their snouts in the trough rather than the current lot? Of course, TIT.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Soap Fan]Street signs in Thailand have both Thai and a transliteration not into English at all, but into an English alphabet.

Does does anyone want "Ma-sard"? :D

But Thai language is actually easier to learn than English once you understand tones, due to:[/QUOTE]Good detailed explanation, thanks

To pick one of your examples, Ma-sard, was actually what the papasan at the CMI Akasuri asked to me when I walked inside, that’s also the reason why he had on his signboard the word. Massar, just the way he pronounced it.

One of the best story’s I ever had in BK on spelling errors was at least 15 years ago, no much English at that time. I left the hotel and dropped the key (no cards at that time) at the reception and the girl know me very well by name, she had a little note in here hand and told me I should urgent call Mr maccardonna or somting like that, she repeated it a few times but her note was written in Thai and was not to any help for me,

In the taxi I was going trough all my business cards, even the Japanese ones thinking it was a client or supplier but did not find anything that looks like that name. At evening, back in the hotel I figured out it was my Australian friend that as arrived in BK, Mr Mc Donald, try to figure it out when your mind is set on a local name.

There are thousand of examples like this and some are really funny, look at some MP websites like Akane at the beginning, no problem as long as we find our way trough the BK jungle

John

Good news for a "falling baht".

Wonder who said the government would be bankrupt soon and needing to borrow borrow borrow.

Thailand could be on its way to a big baht fall over the coming 12 months.

[url]http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/137062/government-to-borrow-2-bln[/url]

Government to borrow US$2bn

By: BangkokPost.com

Published: 4/03/2009 at 03:03 PM The Council of Economic Ministers on Wednesday gave a green light for the government to borrow US$2 billion (about 70 billion baht) from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) for use in reviving the economy, deputy government spokesman Puttipong Punnakan said.

The Ministry of Finance would start negotiations with the three foreign financial institutions in April or May, he said.

The ministry would propose the details of the negotiations to the cabinet and listen to public opinions and suggestions before asking the House of Representatives for approval in late May. The government should be able to borrow the money in July, he said.

About half the funding would be sought from the World Bank. The government will seek US$500 million loans from both the ADB and Jica, Mr Puttipong added.

Sign isn't from Thailand but just as applicable?

[QUOTE=Sonic Bam]Sign isn't from Thailand but just as applicable?[/QUOTE]
I think you could be in the MP thread but no matter.
All Thai MPs or at least most have a sign in the rooms written in Thai that says that there will be no selling of sexual services under any circumstances either in or outside the rooms, as if people would do it on the stairs or in the lift LOL.
Not sure why soapies bother with such a dumb sign.

Day 4 – Sun 15th- Phuket

Waking up next to Fern is like heaven. She told be a bit about herself last night. She is engaged to this Auzzie dude, but he sounds like a bit of a twat. He doesn’t send her money, so she has to go out to bars an pick up blokes. She got her head buried in my chest when I wake up and I can smell her hair. What a babe. She wakes up and tells me she loves me, and for a minute I realise she probably does. ‘I wish I marry you, not heeem’. So she has to head off because she’s got driving lessons, but not without the obligatory sucky sucky. And they say romance is dead? Daytime means off to the beach for some jetski action. Night time as we’re sitting in the same bar while Hunts continues his advances. I convince him to head off to Suzie Wong’s A-Go-Go. Now you just couldn’t imagine the honeys in this place. All knee length booths and black suspender. Whips and oils a plenty. Hunts and me and sitting watching with two honies. I've got a semi on and can barely contain it. Hunts dares the girl I'm with to suck me off in the bar, which she does, hungrily, much to the delight of the rest of the punters. There’s too much noise for me to concentrate, so I tell her to get her clothes. She comes back still wearing these ripped fishnet stocking and suspender belt under a little red skirt and tank top. We walk out into the street and instantly everyone is looking at her, and she’s loving it, the walk of shame! I tell her ‘you know theyre watching you, they want to f*ck you, like I'm gonna f*ck you’. She smiles, winks and laughs and leads me up some stairs to a short time hotel. She’s in the process of getting underdressed, but I can wait that long, I rip off her shirt and lift her onto a sideboard, then pull her panties to one side. My c0ck is bursting out of my shorts as she unzips them. She says ‘lets take shower and go bed’, I reply by slipping on a rubber and jamming it straight in. She’s wet as an otter’s pocket with one ankle over my shoulder and getting pumped hard and fast. Then I get her bent over the dresser, skirt up, panties to one side, handful of her hair, and suspenders stretched over a perfect brown ass, banging away like a shitehouse door in the wind. Once I'm done its back on the street and back to the bar. Hunter is cooing again, and I'm taking a well deserved break. Midnight becons, so I call my wee hunney Fern who I meet in a club. She’s been doing shots and is a little boozy, I ask her what she wants me to do, but shes all coy again. I tell her I know what she wants and I'm not gonna lick her patssy until she says it. She’s blushing so I walk away, she grabs me as I leave and says she wants me to lick it, I say lick what, she says you know, I say I don’t, my patssy, lick my [email]patssy. So[/email] we split the place and take her moped back to the hotel. She’s out of control tonight though, all the shyness has gone and she’s telling me what she wants this time. I barely touch it with my finger and she’s vibrating like a Mexican jumpin bean. She could only let me flick her bean for a few minutes before she says she can't take it, ‘TOOOOO SOHR’. Now she want me behind her so it doesn’t hurt her bean, so we make love like that for what seems ages and fall asleep with her curled tight bum pressed against my crotch and it all seems to perfect to be true.

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