Interesting piece outlining the potential for a possible currency crash. 

f**k. I had just written a long comment about this, and then I accidentally erased it. So now I am just going to paste the article.

You never really know what the real numbers are. But, you have to wonder with all of the spending they have had to do, and the slack of incoming revenue. The current gap must be huge.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2054499/money-just-does-not-fall-from-heaven

https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2054499/money-just-does-not-fall-from-heaven

 

The link above does not seem to be working so I have reproduced it above.

@Glasseye

Thank f**k for that,I thought you were talking about booze!

Zero Covid ain't cheap. The world will find that one day. Thailand has lost 2 trillion baht in tourism revenues, if they aren't going to open the borders until all the Thais have been vaccinated, then you can double that to 4bn baht. They aren't the only country staring at an economic collapse.

5 hours ago, dcfc2007 said:

Zero Covid ain't cheap. The world will find that one day. Thailand has lost 2 trillion baht in tourism revenues, if they aren't going to open the borders until all the Thais have been vaccinated, then you can double that to 4bn baht. They aren't the only country staring at an economic collapse.

all very sad.  but erring on the side of caution and health is a good thing, albeit not for the bank balance sadly

 

They can only prop up the currency for so long. Sooner of later the bubble will burst. 

 

I've thought for years it would happen, but now circumstances may be speeding that possibilty up.

A big difference between 1997 and now is Thailand's foreign currency reserve balance. Using Wikipedia as a source, Thailand's reserve balance is 13th highest in the world at 258,134 million USD. That's a substantial slush fund the country has available to cover govt debt. Surprised the Bangkok Post article didn't mention this.

 

2 hours ago, Glasseye said:

They can only prop up the currency for so long. Sooner of later the bubble will burst. 

 

I've thought for years it would happen, but now circumstances may be speeding that possibilty up.

It is "inflation" that is a very real threat ....

2 hours ago, code_slayer_bkk said:

It is "inflation" that is a very real threat ....

Not in this case, people are reluctant to spend money in this crisis as they aren't sure about their jobs (at the best) or already have lost their jobs, so there is less money to go around. 

^^^^ Not so sure .. I know "inflation" is a major threat ...

As far as everyday spending ... reluctance .. I guess what you say could be semi-semi-semi-true ... but, life goes on .... "crisis" ? ... What are you referring to .. the china virus .. if so, that has become a way of life regardless if we like it or not ... the only serious crisis I can think of is the FED just printing worthless money ... the World Bank ...

The USA just cannot keep spending a trillion dollars a shot to boost the economy when billions and billions or hard earned tax payer money ( or worthless paper money printed by the FED ) is going for worthless and corrupt causes in other countries ...

I am ok .. I have more than I can spend anyway ... and I see people getting on with their lives everyday ... yea, I am sure some people are hurting .. but, what has really changed other than all of the ridiculous shutdown of businesses ... the 2007 and late 2009 financial crisis was much worse

The trick is that since the move away from the gold standard none of it is real.

Money is a perception and is only backed by belief. Hence a rise in the value of Bitcoin.

Governments are aided by the banks and just print more money to avoid the day of rekoning. 

They will keep kicking the can down the road. 

How long it is sustainable anyone can guess.

 

If they run out of money they can just print more.

That's what the west has been doing for years.

 

On 1/22/2021 at 3:32 AM, forcebwithu said:

A big difference between 1997 and now is Thailand's foreign currency reserve balance. Using Wikipedia as a source, Thailand's reserve balance is 13th highest in the world at 258,134 million USD. That's a substantial slush fund the country has available to cover govt debt. Surprised the Bangkok Post article didn't mention this.

 

Investors seem to like Thailand as a safe haven.

2 hours ago, john1000 said:

Investors seem to like Thailand as a safe haven.

That and Thailand's trade surplus.