Canadian Dollar vs Thai Baht

It is interesting to follow currency valuations. This year the Canadian dollar took a beating, losing 18% of its value to the Thai Baht. These fluctuations seem to have no basis in reality. In  reality, Thai tourism and manufacturing are down. The Thai government recently took action to lower the Thai Baht to make its products cheaper in the international marketplace as well as to give tourists more bang (pun intended) for their money. This has had an effect on trading with the Canadian dollar:



Back a year ago in May 2014, one Canadian dollar got you 29.80 Baht. In January of 2015 that fell to about 25.19 Baht. Expats converting Canadian dollars to Baht took a hit. After the Thai central bank taking action in April, the Canadian dollar started climbing back up to 27.50 Baht and I anticipate it floating back up to 30 Baht where it historically likes to be.

Has this happened due to better Canadian performance in world markets. To check, one only has to look at the same period for the Canadian dollar to US dollar.



The above graph does show improvement for the Canadian in relationship to the US dollar. As we get into the uncertainty that the 2016 election will produce I expect a further strengthening of the Canadian dollar against the US dollar which will also indirectly strengthen the Canadian dollar against the Thai Baht.

Just my humble opinion, but things look good for Canadian expats, especially if oil prices rise a little bit. Tourism always drops during the rainy season in Thailand so this will also have an effect. I am not sure why the rainy season scares away the tourists. It typically rains for 30 mins, once a day. It's no big deal and hotel and airline costs are lower! Go for it :-)

I have met a few expats living in Bangkok who make their living by trading currencies. They are not living large, but they are getting by.

TTYL