A BIG jump in both the number of tourists coming to Thailand and those going abroad for holidays has spurred demand for currency exchange with Japanese yen being the most popular but US dollar retains its top spot, Thai News Agency said today (Oct. 6).
Sitamanin Susamawatanakul, managing director for business development of Super Rich (Thailand) Company Limited, said there will likely be a 117% increase in the amount of money clients bring in to exchange at its 16 branches in the current fourth quarter compared to the same period last year thanks to the government’s policy to draw more foreign tourists to the country .
The total number of foreign tourists coming to Thailand this year will likely reach 37 million compared to 32.59 million in 2016. Adding to the demand to exchange currencies is Thais liking to buy package tours to holiday abroad.
According to the business coming Super Rich’s way the top three currencies being traded are US dollar, Japanese yen, and euro. However Korean won, Taiwan dollar and Chinese yuan are also moving quickly.
Trading of Japanese yen seems to be stampeding ahead with Ms Sitamanin mentioning that the exchange amount increased from 20% of total turnover previously to 30% today and this brings it close to US dollar.
This hike in the trading of Japanese yen occurred over the past 2 to 3 years after the Japanese government waived entry visa for Thais.
The Super Rich executive confirmed that her company had enough supply of various currencies to meet client demand this high season and that it is going to open a new branch at Mega Bangna next week.
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Top: Ms Sitamanin sees big jump in currency exchange. Photo: Thai News Agency
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