The Thai Baht investment environment

The Thai baht has held up rather well in recent months, despite the rise in foreign investor risk aversion caused by a tightening of monetary policy. 

Exchange rate a mild constraint on Thailand’s Baht

In March 2006, the local currency was trading at around THB (Thai Baht) 39.18/US$ 1 early in the month, yet it has subsequently appreciated to test resistance in the THB (Thai Baht) 38.00/US$ 1 area. Medium term, we foresee a move to THB (Thai Baht) 36.00/US$ 1. This will exert a constraint on foreign visitor arrivals in the country.

Thailand’s monetary history

The currently used decimal system, one baht = 100 satang, was introduced by King Chulalongkorn. Until the 1940’s it was called the tical, then re-named to the baht. Originally, the term "baht", was a unit of weight of approx 15 grammes and was used because one "tical" was equivalent to 15 grammes of silver.