It is Monday morning in Bangkok but we are already up and preparing to board the Nautica later today.  I thought it might be interesting to write a few comments about the Thai currency, the Baht, and compare it to the US currency system.

The Thai currency system is very similar to the Japanese Yen system.  In the US 100 cents equals one dollar and the dollar is the basic currency unit.  In Japan one Yen equals approximately 1 US cent and the Yen is the basic currency unit.  Approximately 100 Yen equals one US dollar.  In Thailand the Baht is the basic unit of currency and it equals about 3.3 US cents.  One US dollar equals about 31 Baht.  In the US we can two currency elements, the dollar and cent, a fraction of a dollar.  In Japan and Thailand there is one unit of currency each, the Yen and the Baht.

The Baht currency system is made up of one, two, five and ten Baht coins and 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Baht paper notes.  We have used all of these in our transactions in Bangkok.  The 1000 Baht note is worth about 31 US dollars.  The two Baht coin is not used very much but we received one as change.  At one time Satang coins were used which were worth 0.25 and 0.50 Baht but apparently they are no longer used.  It also appears that a 10 Baht note was in circulation but it is now rarely used.

The most interesting physical comparison on the Thai currency to US currency is the comparison of the one Baht coin to the US (one cent) penny.  The one Baht coin is silver grey in color and is about the same size of a US penny.  But one Baht is worth more than three US cents.  One has to exchange three US pennies for one Baht coin.  There is not way this makes any economic sense.  It is not possibly that the metal contained in a one Baht coin has the same economic value as the metal in three US pennies.  Since we know it costs the US Treasury more than one US cent to make each US penny this should not be surprising.  It is another illustration of how the US government doesn't make adjustments in line with economic reality.

The 10 Baht coin is bimetallic and slightly larger and heavier than a US quarter.  It has a value of about 33 US cents.  If one combines the weight of a US nickel and a US quarter it appears that the mass of the Thai coin is approximately equal to the US coins.  The combination of a US quarter and US dime is also close.

All paper notes of any nation have no inherent physical value.  They are only backed by the issuing government's capability to make good on its obligations in one form or another.  The Baht currency notes are different colors and sizes just like many other nations.  We have only been here a couple of days but we are getting a feel for the value of the Baht. 

One thing is clear as a bell.  The US penny no longer makes any economic sense in its current form.  It cost too much to produce and is no longer essential to physical currency transactions.  We need to let the penny pass on to its place in history.

TPM 

We took a tour today to an area southwest of Bangkok near the Gulf of Thailand.  During our hour and one-half drive away from Bangkok we had an opportunity to see more of the city, the surrounding area and get some additional exposure to the local culture.  Our guide today was Kim, a Thai whose family is ethnic Chinese and also Catholic.  We discovered that about 95 percent of Thais are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition and about 4 percent are Muslim.  Kim told us she is a minority of a minority in Thailand.

One of the hightlights of our drive included passing by fields that were filled with seawater.  The water will evaporate so the salt can be harvested and processed.  We watched some people doing this work by hand.  We also saw many Buddhist shrines along the highway.  We found out that the King of Thailand remains a very important leader in the country even though Thailand is a constitutional monarchy.  There were many pictures of the King posted along the highway.  We also saw some banana and coconut plantations.

The highlight of the day was our first stop.  We visited a "camp" where tourists can ride an elephant, sitting on a bench mounted on its back, with a mahout riding up front to "drive" the elephant.  We spent 30 minutes riding our elephants through a coconut plantation.  We were told that the elephants formerly worked in the logging industry in the mountains but have been sold to the people that own the camps.

Our second major stop was a housing area that was developed on a man made canal system fed by river water.  We got on a long, narrow boat that appeared to be powered by an automobile engine driving a propeller/rudder system at the end of a long metal drive shaft.  I don't ever remember seeing a boat like this anywhere I have traveled.  We ended this part of the trip at a floating market operating on the canal system.  The homes we saw very extremely interesting.  Most were built on stilts.  Almost all of them had Buddhist shrines at the canal entrance to the property.  According to our guide this area had been developed by workers imported about 150 years ago from Singapore.  We were told many of the workers populated the area after the construction was completed.  Today, many of the locals looked to be ethnic Chinese, the primary ethnic group of Singapore.  I am sure the history of this area is extremely interesting.  The canal system was huge with many branches intersecting with our route.

We also visited a wood working factory.  The wood was teak and the artistry of the woodworkers was impressive.  We were told the skilled people at the factory are from the northern region of Thailand.  We didn't buy any furniture but the factory and show room were very interesting.

We had a good day on our tour and did some more walking in the area around our hotel.  We board our ship tomorrow and set sail in the early morning of April 1.  We will post new blogs as proceed on our cruise.

TPM

My wife and I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, late last night local time, a couple of days before we board our ship for the final leg of our multi-year four cruise plan to cruise completely around the world and going through the Suez and Panama Canals.  We arrived to find a very modern and efficient international airport and used a local limo service that we booked in the Bangkok airport to haul all of our luggage to the JW Marriott in downtown Bangkok.  The low cost, high quality limo service was in stark contrast to the high cost, low quality service we get at Dulles Airport which services the Washington, DC metro area.  The moderate cost, high quality room we have at the JW Marriott is in stark contrast to the high cost hotels of all brands that we have used in other international cities.

Since we are a bit jet lagged after our long flight we aren't doing a lot of sight seeing today.  We have walked around in 90 degree F heat within the business/residential/commercial area surrounding our hotel to see what this part of Bangkok is like.  Bangkok has a population within the city of about 8 million and the total metro area has a population of about 14 million.  We have seen a tiny fraction of the city so far but we can make some initial observations.  It is Saturday in Bangkok and we won't have a chance to see the city during the business week.  We haven't seen any evidence of the politically inspired violence that has been reported here in Thailand in recent months.  What we have seen is a city conducting its business.  It may not all be the type of business that Americans would appreciate, or deliver a standard of living that Americans would find acceptable, but there are thousands of people in this area of Bangkok working on late Saturday afternoon and evening to scratch out a living.  I think today is the first time I have ever seen a motor scooter used to transport people as part of an organized taxi business.

This area is filled with a very unique blend of buildings.  There are very modern office buildings and shopping malls interspersed with old buildings and some metal shacks.  There are street vendors everywhere selling almost anything one could possibly desire.  Some of the products and services for sale on the streets of Bangkok will not be presented for sale on most big city streets in the US.  As we walked around in the early afternoon we watched as more and more vendors set up their tables, set up their wheeled carts or opened their stalls for business later this afternoon and this evening.  On our third walk of the day in the late afternoon we observed additional vendors arrive.  The vendors covered every inch of the length of some sidewalks.  Some of the food vendors were washing their dishes in buckets on the sidewalks in preparation for today's business activity.  I have never seen this done anywhere I have traveled.

The pole mounted electric distribution grid in this area of Bangkok is an incredible rats nest of wires and poles intermixed with the buildings, some trees, elevated trains and pedestrian bridges.  It reminds us of the rats nest electric grid we saw in the large Japanese cities in 2012 but probably worse.  It is hard to believe it functions.

We found a small Arab section in the surrounding area.  The signs advertising the businesses were in Arabic and many Arab women were dressed in burkas.  We have seen a few Thai women in Muslim dress.  It is just a reminder to Americans that people around the world trade with each other without US or western involvement.

We plan to take a private tour on Sunday.  We will provide more insight about Bangkok next time.

TPM 

 

I have been watching parts of the Fox News Channel prime time line up tonight and it has reinforced how poorly a major news organization deals with pure simple facts.

I watched an Inmarsat (London based satellite services company) executive interviewed by Megyn Kelly on her show, The Kelly File, on Fox News.  Inmarsat's representative was very precise in his statements as he explained how the 777 satellite communication system functions and when information was provided to the investigators.  He properly refused to make statements that were not based on facts.  He refused Megyn Kelly's requests to make speculative statements.

After The Kelly File, Sean Hannity's show was next and they immediately began discussing the same topic.  Jennifer Griffin purportedly reported what the Inmarsat representative said just a few minutes earlier and got it wrong.  She stated he had reached a conclusion that he didn't make during his interview on The Kelly File.  Ms. Griffin drew her own conclusion and reported it as Inmarsat's.  I was stunned as I watched her misrepresent the Inmarsat representative's statements.

This simple example is a clear warning to everyone that we cannot accept what is reported as fact by the media.  I address this issue in my article, Spin, Lies, Conspiracy and Truth, http://www.thepurplemuse.com/id33.html.  All media makes guesses or takes bad information and presents it to us as fact. Sometimes it is a willful action and sometimes it is an honest mistake. But in any case it is clear that media cannot be trusted to tell the truth and only the truth.  Many individuals in media will make up the story if its suits them.

I would be nice if media would work harder to get the facts right.  But as of now they are aren't doing it.

TPM

Have you ever heard of Bitcoin?  If you haven't, you are probably not a cyber finance geek or watch or read business news many hours a day.  Bitcoin is the latest darling of those that believe that a new currency can be developed out of thin air with nothing real to back it up. 

Wikipedia quotes sources defining Bitcoin as "a peer-to-peer payment system and digital currency introduced as open source software in 2009.  It is a crytocurrency, so-called because it uses cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money."  "The capitalized word Bitcoin refers to the technology and network, whereas the lowercase bitcoin refers to the currency itself." I have no issue with the payment system aspect of Bitcoin. If the online community has created a lower cost, high security, significantly improved method of making payments online they should have every opportunity to compete in the global marketplace against other payment systems.  Users of the Bitcoin payment system should understand the business risks they take by using the system since "traditional financial system regulation is not applicable."

The issue I have with bitcoin is the currency aspect. I have watched cable TV financial journalists go ga-ga over bitcoin because some fools were willing to pay over $1,000 for an electronic credit backed by effectively nothing. Listening to people discuss the increasing value of bitcoin last fall was like watching the modern version of the Netherlands tulip bubble of the 1630s.  A variety to companies have agreed to take bitcoin as payment, but only because they could immediately trade bitcoin for a real currency they can actually use.  After the bubble popped bitcoin has gone down in value and is currently trading at about $605. I have seen people recommend holding bitcoin as an investment. Incredible.

I have criticized the Federal Reserve, US government and other central banks and governments many times for printing fiat money.  But at least these governments have a taxing authority to pay bills and they have the authority to establish currency standards.  There is at least a minimal level of accountability in the management of the financial system and banking system  In addition governments own gold and real property.  What does bitcoin have to support its value? Nothing but an electronic credit.  Bitcoin is a currency for the 21rst century bubble lovers.  Recently a several bitcoin banks closed after all of their bitcoins were stolen by hackers. This is a real currency? No way, no how.

If the payment system is as good as some people believe and bitcoins were to be backed by real assets like gold or silver, bitcoin could become a major force in the world economy. In the meantime bitcoins are for bubble lovers.

TPM

I have never seen a UFO, met or seen an alien or been abducted.  I have never met anyone in my personal or business life that has told me about any encounters they may have had with UFOs or aliens.  So why I am writing a blog about these topics?

A few weeks ago I was wandering around my local book store and saw a new book by Timothy Good, Earth An Alien Encounter - The Shocking Truth Behind The Greatest Cover-Up in Human History.  The title was intriguing so I decided to buy it because I have a general interest in the topic.  As I progressed through the book the information provided by Mr. Good was extremely hard to accept.  So I decided to find out more about Mr. Good.  Mr. Good is from the UK and is a professional musician.  It turns out he has been researching these topics for decades and has written a number of books on these subjects.  He is a highly respected researcher of these topics.  I watched several hours of his interviews on various programs on YouTube.  Mr. Good doesn't come across as a flake.  He presents himself and his views on these topics extremely well.  In the videos Mr. Good stated that he has seen UFOs several times and explained that he believes he has met aliens three times during his life.

The book is a compilation of dozens of reports of UFOs, aliens and abductions that have occurred in the US, UK and other nations.  Many of the reports are based on the research of other people.  Some of the research is his own.  Mr. Good states that a number of alien species are living or have lived on the earth.  Mr. Good explains that some US presidents, Eisenhower and JFK specifically, have met with aliens in person.  He states that the US government has captured alien spacecraft and reverse engineered them to some degree.  He states that there has been a technology transfer between aliens and various governments that has provided incredible technical capability to humans far beyond anything that the public has seen.  In this short summary I haven't touched on the most incredible material in Good's books. 

Many of these topics have been covered in other books that I have read, but the specific information provided by Mr. Good on a broad range of topics is astounding.  The question however, "Is any of the material in the book actually true?" Did all of the people that provided the information in the book make it up? Did they imagine it?  Is the material the subject of some weird dreams?  Is any of it real, true and factual?

Hundreds of books have been published on this general subject area over the past 60 years or so.  Many people have made many claims.  However, to the best of my knowledge not one of these claims has been proven to be fact in the public domain.  Mr. Good claims that the US government has led the effort to keep all of the critical information secret for over 60 years.  He states that the UK and other governments have cooperated with the US.  How could something this sensational and broad based be kept completely contained for so long by so many people within a variety of governments?  It doesn't seem possible.  It also doesn't seem possible that every single report of UFOs, aliens and abductions could be faked or imaginary. 

It only takes one report of the thousands of reports compiled by all of the researchers to be proven factual to change the course of history, just one.  However, until I can verify one extraterrestrial event with my own eyes and mind, I will remain a skeptic.

TPM