While the price of beer, and bar girls is going up, the western currencies to Baht conversion rates are falling. I have been coming to Thailand for 12 years and the Baht has appreciated significantly during that period of time. Another way of looking at it is the Canadian dollar is tanking, especially under the leadership of Justin Trudope.
Here is the currency chart over the past 10 years.
During this time period the Baht has dropped to 23.8 from a high of 33.4
If I compare the chart to the US to Thai baht we can discover if the Baht is appreciating against the US$ and also decide how much of it is due to the Canadian dollar tanking and how much is due to the Baht appreciating.
We can see that during the same time frame, the US$ was buying 36.5 baht at its peak and is now buying 31.2 for a difference of 4.3 baht.
In contrast, the CDN dollar went from 33.4 to 23.8 for a difference of 9.6 Baht.
It appears approximately 4% is due to Baht appreciation and 5% is due to the Canadian dollar tanking.
It would appear that Thailand is no longer the bargain that it used to be, but then again, neither is Florida for Canadian expats. Now, the interesting observation would be, "Is the average Thai person better off with the stronger Thai Baht. I just don't see that on the street.
Time to check the McDonald's Hamburger Index.
In this graphic we can see that over the 10 years a Hamburger has gone from being about 42% cheaper to about 28% cheaper and is still a bargain for Canadians albeit not as big a bargain. It also means the Thai person on the street is worse off if they are eating at McD's.
I suggest that if you are thing about visiting Thailand, I suggest you do so sooner than later.
TTYL
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