Doing Business in Thailand

One criteria you will have to consider when investing into Thailand will be the long term volatility of the currency of your home country against the THB because the evolution of the exchange rates will be one of the element that will affect on the long term your return on your investment. Being no financial wizard I cannot tell you how currencies will evolute against each others in the future. What I can show you is how some of the main world currencies have evolved against the THB during the past four years.

Note: The monthly averages are calculated based on 20 to 23 open days per month.

Why did I choose 2006 as the year of reference? Simply because 2006 was the year of the Coup D’état that ended Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra tenure as Thailand longest serving Prime Minister and it was for a lot of businessmen in Thailand the last of the good years. Since then Thailand has been plagued by political trouble and had to go through a worldwide economical crisis. This is why I thought it would be interesting to look how the Thai Baht has fluctuated against foreign currencies during this bumpy period.

The least we can say is that the 3 major currencies presented below have fluctuate a lot against the THB during the past 4 years.   The USD, Euro, and GBO have all lost value against the THB in 2007 and 2008 and of the three currencies only the Euro is back at its 2006 rate.

While the dollar has regained comparison to 2007 and 2008 a little bit of strength against the THB this year its value is still below the exchange rate of 2007

After losing value against the THB in 2007 and 2008 the Euro is back to its 2006 level.

Of all the major currencies, the GBP is the one that has lost the most value against the THB over the past three years and is also the only one out of the three currencies examined which value is still eroding against the THB.

Later this month I will publish another post to the evolution of the Swedish, Russian, Japanese and Australian currencies against the THB.

Note: This page is an excerpt of Rene Philippe Dubout next book: “How to  Safely Buy Real Estate in Thailand” to be published in November 2009

About the Author:

The author Rene-Philippe DUBOUT is a lawyer since 1990 when he was admitted to Geneva bar (Switzerland). He practiced as a litigator there for 10 years until he moved to Thailand in 1999. In 2002 he founded with a group of Thai lawyers Rene Philippe & Partners Ltd a local law firm that specialized in Cross Borders Investments and Real Estate. He has been lecturing in several Thai Universities and a speaker to numerous conferences and seminars. He is the author of a must read book:”How to Purchase Real Estate Offshore Safely: The Case of Thailand”.

http//:www.renephilippe.com

© Copyrights 2009 – Rene Philippe Dubout – This article may be reprinted if information about the author, the websites, and the URLs remain intact

Originally posted 2009-10-14 02:03:45.

Related posts:

1. Thailand Bank: Foreign Exchange Control Regulations
2. Buying Property: The foreign exchange risk factor