Overseas investors buy Thai bonds, optimistic that Covid-19 vaccine will revive tourism

With hopes that a Covid-19 vaccine will be the key to open Thailand’s doors back up to international tourism, overseas investors are putting down money into Thailand’s financial market.

Thai baht has strengthened by nearly 3% since the end of October, a top performing currency in Asia following the Indonesian rupiah, and it’s expected to strengthen even further over the next year if the coronavirus vaccine leads to an influx of tourism, according to Krung Thai Bank strategist Poon Panichpibool.

“Foreigners have been mainly buying the front-end of the Thai debt curve for exposure to baht gains.”

This month, foreign investors have purchased a net of $1.5 billion USD in Thai bonds, according to Bloomberg.

With Pfizer and BioNtech boasting about their vaccine’s success and potential to end the pandemic, the process of restarting foreign tourism could speed up. Thailand has already started discussions with China about establishing a quarantine-free travel corridor by January.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post