Ouch - US dollar under 40 baht

[OCgringo]

Actually vietnam is more expensive flight than thailandm

plus thailand has the industrial places to make my parts ,

and I think is much easier to get around,

 

I missed the Vietnam war by a high lottery number ,

happy I did not have to go then, and no real reason to go now !

 

Currancy rates are just something you have to live with ,

I make more $$$$ when I sell stuff in Europe , so it works out OK

 

OC

[chilli13]

"The first time (January 2002) I sent the money to my gf, 1000A$ were 22K baht. Now, it is almost 30K baht.

Back then, US$ was 44-45B"

 

my free advice: "keep sending her the same amount in baht & cheerish your savings"

 

last week I registered a swift transfer of 20k thb, but somehow the bank made a mistake so I had to redo the order yesterday only resulting in saving in me saving almost several percent, which the baht apparently had tumbled

that's of course nothing compared to months back

 

I really feel for you guys on the usd accounts, but then again have a close look on the US budgets ::

Luckily I'm quite sure the baht follows the usd quite close...

[Central Scrutinizer]

Rick,

 

Yeah, about as coincidental as the attack on Fallujah happening after the election instead of it being concluded just before the election. Body counts and bereaved relatives make lousy voting fodder.

 

BTW Rick, how's things going? Long time no see. Where are you located presently? I should be back in January some time. Hook up for a beer?

 

Mike/Cent

 

p.s. Oh yeah, did a Western Union transfer yesterday to Thailand, as I need to send a new ATM next week so used WU. Fuckers gave 37.521599 to the dollar!!! And charged 29.00 dollars service fee for the prilege of tucking it to me. Someone needs to compete against these crooks! I know it could be done for a much cheaper rate in this newer computer age. WU sucks! I hate to use the theiving cunts!

[chilli13]

use swift international bank transfer via your internet banking. any decent banks should do that with no fees whatsoever(LOS banks may charge for incoming transfers?) except of course an exchange rate that should be on par with debit/credit cards or cash i.e. 1-2% over the interbank rates

money should arrive within 3-4 bank days vs. WU's instant transfer, which I guess they justify to charge unsuspecting folks thru the roof

[ThaiHome]

ib13 said:

use swift international bank transfer via your internet banking. any decent banks should do that with no fees whatsoever(LOS banks may charge for incoming transfers?) except of course an exchange rate that should be on par with debit/credit cards or cash i.e. 1-2% over the interbank rates

money should arrive within 3-4 bank days vs. WU's instant transfer, which I guess they justify to charge unsuspecting folks thru the roof

 

Please give me the name of a US bank that will do an international SWIFT wire transfer, initiated over the internet or by fax (not in person), and charges no fees for doing so.

 

I do SWIFT transfers from my US bank (by fax) to Bangkok Bank (main branch), US bank charges $50, Bangkok Bank nothing, and it gets there in 1 day. Bangkok Bank does currency exchange, same as ATM rate.

TH

TH

[chilli13]

I'm just assuming there would be banks who did this, but likely it would be less well known banks who actually had to compete on services as opposed to the big names competing on 'name'.

 

Here in scandinavia the new pure internet banks do this like skandiabanken, but like I said the swift transfer takes 3-6 days to come thru, but well worth it in convenience & value

Used to be by fax only, but still free back then just more of a hassle & uncertainty...

[Torneyboy]

Flashermac said:

Clinton did change the design. US paper money nowadays looks like play money!

 

They have changed the twenty dollar bill....not sure if the others will change.

still looks like play money however!

[chelseafan]

dean said:

They must still be relatively easy to counterfeit because, while I've had twenties and hundred dollar bills refused overseas, I had a one hundred dollar bill refused at a local resturant last month. I do like the way sterling is designed, with larger denomations bieng larger in size, down to the fiver. It makes it easy to count money after a late night.

 

Also watermarks and the silver foil strip going through the note.

[chelseafan]

BelgianBoy said:

OC,

 

I read reports from local banks daily, as indeed the Euro / USD is important for my business.

 

Expectations are for short-terms for the USD to drop even further, some say 1.35 - 1.38, the Deutsche Bank even predicts 1.43 !

BTW, its 1.33 today

 

And yes, its hurting Europe as hell, and no, there is nothing I can do about this.......

 

BB

 

I'm laughing all the way to the bank at the moment, I import a lot of goods from the US (and some from China), hitting $1.88 at the moment for every £1. 2 years ago I was working at around $1.57. Good for my customers cos I pass the savings on.

Long livethe weak dollar

[chelseafan]

BelgianBoy said:

OC,

 

But the Czech girls are also very famous for their beauty !

1.325 today

 

What about Vietnam then, 100 % sure you can book there cheaper than LOS and directly in USD.

 

BB

 

Cant speak for OCgringo, but my company wont allows us to import from Vietnam due to child labour. Same go's for Burma (or Myrimar what ever you call it these days). Would be nice though....