UK Pound

[aot871]

How do the british expats manage with the uk pound ,, now in decline, below 45bht to ┬г1 today

[timmberty]

i am thinking about moving to thailand towards the end of this year .. as i was last year .. but if the baht carries on like it is, it looks like i may have to call it off for another 2 or 3 years ... or even move to spain instead ..

[joe552]

It's not just the UK pound, but the Euro as well. Looks like I'll be retiring to Tenerife rather than Pattaya

But wait a minute joe - aren't we continually being told that the Euro is a basket case and that we are lucky to have the great British Pound and the AAA Credit Rating yada yada yada?

If all the political propaganda we are being fed is true - shouldn't the Euro be sinking faster and deeper than the Titantic, and shouldn't the Pound be riding high on the International exchanges while we all sing three choruses of Rule Britannia followed by God Save the Queen ?

So how come the ┬г is sinking against the Euro (down to 1.13 now from almost 1.30 just 6 months ago) and down 10% against the Baht in the space of just 9 months.

Surely it's not possible we are being lied to? :evil4:

[paperboy]

:party

funny thats where i live
the canaries islands
Thailand seems to be getting more expensive to me
thats why i go to south america alot

[Jellybean]

How do the british expats manage with the uk pound ,, now in decline, below 45bht to ┬г1 today

With great difficulty! : (

[ikarus]

There had been couple of articles including one in Daily Telegraph by the head of currency trade division in HSBC predicting the crash of UK pound in 2013.
The major reasons:
1. Some improvements in Eurozone and hence reduction of the role of UK pound as "safe heaven".
2. Looming recession in UK
3. BOE buys 50 percent of UK bonds by printing money. Obviously it cannot last forever
4. Declining revenues from North Sea oil.
Substitute UK by US and you can see a similar threat for US. The only difference is that new shale techology potentially can make US in one of the world biggest oil producers. Whether Obama will be willing to pull Thatcher and embrace energy independence agenda remains to be seen ( but even if he does it will be Chavez rather than Thatcher).
UK would be much better off as a part of Euro.

Once we vote to share those "declining oil revenues" among 5 million people rather than 63 million, things will look a whole lot healthier on THIS side of the border.

:sharm:

Ah if only things were as simple as that Scottie, but I'm sure deep down even you know and accept that leaving politics aside for a second even financially things aren't just as black and white as the picture you paint and when all is said and done and all the boxes are ticked and the i's dotted oil revenue or not Scotland may indeed be quite a bit worse off for many many years to come, but I guess some would say that if that is the price of independence then it is still a price worth paying, personally I'm not sure I agree with that but each to their own and all that and time will tell I guess.

To address your specific point about being "quite a bit worse off for years to come" - well, with respect, I suspect you are basing that opinion purely on a gut feeling borne out of hearing the "too wee, too poor, too stupid" propaganda channeled through the State Broadcaster aka the BBC.

The Scottish Govt says we'd be better off by ┬г500 per person per year - but just to be conciliatory and avoid the "Well, they would say that" responses - let's not even go with that figure.

Let's take the official UK Govt estimates of how much "worse off" we would be. The worst scaremongering the UK Govt can come up with is ┬г1 per skull.

UK Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander told The Herald: ".. taking an average of the Scottish Government's own figures since devolution... Scots would be ┬г1 worse off..... We are better together." The Herald (Unionist Rag) 5/1/13

Of course Independence carries risks, but it also carries rewards such as not being ruled by a Government that not only did your Country not vote for but which 80% rejected at the ballot box, not being dragged into and having your young men killed in illegal wars, and not having Western Europe's largest and deadliest arsenal of WMDs dumped on your doorstep - barely a few miles from your largest City.

Personally I think that's priceless - but certainly worth ┬г1.

:sharm:

As I said - time will tell and we'll see either way I guess, but aside from the economics I do hope the majority decide to stay within the UK as I'd miss you all if you left, simple as that and you neithent think that leaving and then popping across with a punch or flowers and a box of chocolates will be enough to get us all talking again, it'll take WAY more than that - maybe even TWO boxes of chocolates and a bottle of whisky or two ( Irish not Scotch of course as we do have certain standards to keep up you know and wouldn't drink just any oul muck !) :-)

[latintopxxx]

if a slight drop in the exchange rate forces one to change ones retirement plan...then one is certainly not financially prepared to do so.........please no poor struggling retirees...Thailand is already full of poor people...

Well, there used to be a 65yo rentboy on Gaydar, although he preferred to describe himself as "Gentleman's escort" - so for Pattaya ex-pats struggling with falling exchange rates, there's always the option of prostitution.

[timmberty]

if a slight drop in the exchange rate forces one to change ones retirement plan...then one is certainly not financially prepared to do so.........please no poor struggling retirees...Thailand is already full of poor people...
maybe if you paid the going rate there wouldnt be quite so many poor people there ?? :tongue3:

- aren't we continually being told that the Euro is a basket case and that we are lucky to have the great British Pound and the AAA Credit Rating .... 21/02/2013

WHOOPS!

48 hours is a long time in Politics .......
....That'll be the AAA Credit rating gone then.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21554311

[latintopxxx]

quiet...scotty...by now you should know your place in British society...dont try to rise above your station...you will only embarass yourself....again!....

[arsenal]

SG: Does your figure include all the things an independent Scotland will need to pay for? A military for example and embassies all over the world. The oil won't last forever, then what are you going to do?

[latintopxxx]

suck up to the english ofcourse.....bad enough that the English have to subsidize them at present....guess thats one way to rule the natives...you bribe them.