By Jaloon Htaw – Since April 2011, the exchange rate between Thai and Burmese currency has risen and fallen inconsistently causing losses for those who make profits by buying up Thai currency or sending money to Burma.
During the month of April 2011, the exchange rate for 100,000 Burmese kyat was 3,000 Thai Baht.
According to Nai Lin, who owns a currency exchange business, on the 1st of June, the value of the Baht decreased; one could exchange 100,000 kyat for 4200 Baht. But, since then, the rate has increased, with a current exchange rate of 100,000 kyat to 3,900 Baht.
“Because the rate increased a little, now the buyers are purchasing Thai currency. Significantly, there is little trade now between the Thai and Burmese borders, and therefore, less people are stocking up on Thai currency. On one day in June, the Thai rate increased [Thai Baht value increased]. I received 3,760 Baht. [But], I lost 10,000 Baht while the Thai currency rate decreased in the last two weeks. Now, I feel comfortable with the exchange rate” Nai Lin added.
Nai Lin believes that in October of this year, the rate will become regular with the Thai currency selling at 3000 Baht per 100,000 Kyat. “Because of the situation of combat at Three Pagodas Pass [Thai-Burmese border], most merchants aren’t trading at the border and aren’t exchanging Thai currency, so the currency rate will increase only gradually,” he added.
One woman who purchases Burmese goods from Three pagodas Pass and sells them in Sangklaburi, said “when the Thai currency rate decreases, there is no profit for me. For one piece of merchandise, I receive one Baht of profit. Now that the Thai baht has increased a little, I will make more profit.”
According to one restaurant owner living in Myawaddy, Karen State, the small increase in the exchange rate lately allows him and other migrant workers to work without facing money difficulties.
Still, one migrant worker living in Bangkok explained that 10 days ago, when he sent 8,400 Baht to his family in Burma, his family received only 200,000 kyat. “My family needs money, so I sent it to them. They should have gotten 250,000 kyat, but now they only got 200,000 kyat. Now, that the rate has increased a little, it will be good for us,” he added.
“When the rate of exchange is unstable, many currency exchange shop owners stop exchanging. But, now that the rate is up a bit, they have started up their trade again,” said a currency exchange shop owner in Bangkok, Thailand.
In April 2011, the Thai-Burmese currency rate began to decrease. With the Burmese Water Festival in April, many Burmese migrant workers returned home from Thailand and exchanged Thai Baht for Burmese currency causing a decrease in the value of the Thai Baht. And, the latest unrest in Three Pagodas Pass has caused the currency rate to decrease again. Owners of currency exchange shops have professed that of all the years that have worked in money exchange, this year the Thai currency rate has decreased the most.
