Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing a stronger Thai Baht and the impact that may have on retirees here in Thailand. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, that's bangkokpost.com article is titled: Baht strengthens as Fed expected to stay put. Quoting directly: "The Baht gained against the softening US Dollar as some investors expect the US Federal Reserve to maintain its policy rate at its meeting scheduled for this week. The Baht opened at 35.38 to the Dollar on Tuesday, appreciating from the previous day's close of 35.58. The local currency moved in a range of 35.28 - 45 to the dollar and closed at 35.35 on Tuesday."

It is worth noting that in a historical context, especially roughly the last let's call it 10-15 years, 10, 12 years at least, this is a pretty good "exchange rate" for Americans or those who are coming in to Thailand Dollar denominated in terms of their assets or in terms of their savings, this is a pretty good exchange rate all things considered if you look at it historically. Now as they noted, the Baht strengthened or I should say yeah strengthened a little bit against the softening "dollar" and that had an impact on the overall exchange rate. Now again if the US Dollar gets weaker than those who have their primary assets and their primary cash flow in terms of things like pensions in dollars are going to have some, it is going to have an impact on them; their purchasing power is going to decrease. Again that said 35 to 1 is a pretty good exchange rate all things considered in a more historical. 

Yes I can remember when I first got here, the range was more like 38 to 36 and I do remember bringing in when I first bought a condo here in Thailand bringing in money to buy that condo when it was at the 36 mark. So again I have seen it "better" in terms of purchasing power for US dollar within the Thai Baht economy. But that said, it has been a lot worse. I remember when it was 28 and change to 1 and that was not good for anybody out here.

So the thing though to take away from this video is yes this can have an impact on retirees especially those with fixed incomes or those who are basically living off of assets in their retirement years because again, their relative purchasing power can erode as a result of a change in the exchange rate. Now again, 35 to 1 is a pretty good rate all things considered. There are some who make determinations to bring in money at various points in order to avail themselves of a, if you will of a favourable exchange rate something to keep in mind now especially with the changes that have occurred January 1, 2024 with regard to rescission of certain memoranda associated with money coming in to Thailand. There may be tax ramifications for folks bringing money in to Thailand. That is definitely something that one should think about and if you don't understand the full ramifications of Thailand's tax regime, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional to gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.