Thai Baht Exchange Rates: High Value For Exotic Travel
Thai baht exchange rates with the British pound have been generally stable during the last year, never oscillating beyond a fraction of a penny. If you’re looking to buy Thai Baht online, the existing currency exchange rate is 0.021, meaning that each 100 Thai baht is the same as 2 pounds and 10 pence, while 100 pounds buys you 4,761.90 baht. The current rate is just barely above what it was precisely 12 months ago, when the conversion factor was 0.020.
The baht was strongest in December 2010 to early Jan of this year, when the exchange rate climbed to 0.022 and you might get only 4,629.63 baht for 100 your pounds. In comparison to today’s prevailing exchange rate, this spells a loss of about 2.77 pounds. This does not sound like much, but if you consider this is equivalent to around 132 baht “the cost of a good, terribly decent meal in Bangkok “then you get a practical sense of how much the forex fluctuation is costing you.
Then shortly thereafter, round the 2nd week of January 2011 the baht exchange rates suddenly plunged, falling to an abysmal 0.020 within the span of a couple of weeks. This was most likely caused by Thailand’s volatile political situation, which has seen some rather turbulent times during the last couple of years. And since politics and the economy appear to go inseparably together, these times of political turbulence led to some weakening of consumer expenditure which in its turn caused some negative interest in the baht in forex markets.
It’s rather ironic the time when the pound was strongest against the baht in the last 12 months and could afford you the most purchasing power in Thailand was the same time it was potentially not a smart idea to be in Thailand. But since that time the political scene has quieted down slightly and things are back to basics for the Thai baht exchange rates, that has rather stabilized to its present value.
A holiday in Thailand may be in your plans. Without regard for the exchange rate, the price of living in this country is amazingly low. Food, gift shopping, entertainment and taxi fare inside Bangkok are incredibly inexpensive, so your British pounds go a long, long way in this wonderfully exotic destination. However there are some things about managing the currency conversion you want to keep under consideration.
1. Buy some your Thai baht even before you leave for Thailand. This may give you local currency that turns out to be handy when you arrive in Thailand and you need to pay for food, tips, and taxi fare. At the same time you've got the luxury of choosing the best exchange rate.
2. Stay away from currency conversion counters at the airfield and train stations. The currency rates here are horrible and they charge astronomical service costs.
3. Your best bet is to use ATMs that service global financial institutions. These give the best Thai baht exchange rates and the most reasonable service charges. Plan your expenditure wants so you can withdraw enough money and decrease the amount of withdrawals to avoid getting charged the service charge.
Jayne Wendy Richards is a freelance FairPay international money transfer specialist based in the south of France. She mostly goes on holiday with her FairFX card.
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