The short answer

If you live in Thailand but your savings, retirement funds and investments are in rand, every move in the exchange rate changes what your money buys. Manage it by matching each pot of money to the currency you'll spend it in: the next year or two of living costs in baht, known future costs (school fees, a condo, a university at home or abroad) moving into the right currency as the date approaches, and long-term growth money spread across the world's currencies through a global portfolio rather than left in rand. Avoid converting everything at once on a single day, use a good exchange rate on larger sums — and fix the rate in advance when a big payment is coming. Lawrence offers a free review of your currency mix alongside your investments.

What currency risk really is

Currency risk arises whenever the money you hold is in a different currency from the money you'll spend. If your investments are in rand and your life is in baht, a fall in the rand against the baht cuts your spending power — even if your investments haven't changed in value at all. A rise in the rand does the opposite.

For someone living in South Africa and investing in rand, currency barely registers day to day. For a South African in Thailand, it's built into everything: your living annuity, your rent, your savings, your children's school fees, the condo you might buy and the inheritance you might leave. That's why currency deserves a place in every expat's financial plan — not as an afterthought, but as one of the main things to get right.

Importantly, currency risk isn't all bad. Exchange rates move both ways. Holding money in more than one currency means you're never entirely dependent on one economy, one central bank or one government. Spread sensibly, currencies add resilience — and that's exactly what a well-built expat portfolio uses them for.

How far the rand and baht move

Exchange rates can move more than people expect, both over a year and over a decade.

Over the short term, the rand is one of the most volatile major currencies. In 2026 it moved from about ฿1.89 on 20 January to about ฿2.07 on 2 September — nearly 10% in eight months. On a R6 million transfer, that's about R570,000 of difference in what arrives. On a R40,000 monthly income, it's over ฿7,000 a month.

Over the long term, the trend has mostly gone one way: the rand has weakened substantially against the baht, as it has against the dollar, over the past two decades. In 2019 Bloomberg reported that the baht was Asia's strongest-performing currency that year, squeezing foreign retirees whose incomes came from abroad. For a South African whose income stays in rand, a weaker rand over a long retirement can matter far more than any normal rise in living costs.

Nobody can reliably predict where rates will go next. The sensible response isn't to guess, but to arrange your money so that whatever happens, your life in Thailand stays comfortable.

The rand against the baht in 2026

A few reference points from 2026, and what they mean for a R40,000 monthly income.

Sources: Pound Sterling Live (2026 high and low); October 2026 rate. The last row is an illustration, not a forecast.

The currencies hiding inside your portfolio

Many South Africans think of their portfolio as being "in rand" because that's the currency their statement shows. But the currency on the statement is only the reporting currency. What matters is the currency of the things the portfolio actually owns.

A global share fund owns companies all over the world. At the end of September 2026, US companies made up about 64% of the MSCI All Country World index, with Japan, Canada and many others making up the rest. So a rand-priced global feeder fund is mostly exposed to the US dollar, then to a long list of other currencies. When the dollar strengthens against the rand, the fund rises in rand terms; when it weakens, the fund falls — even if the shares themselves haven't moved.

For South Africans abroad, this is generally good news. A worldwide portfolio already spreads your long-term money across many currencies, so you're not tied to the fortunes of the rand alone. The catch is that retirement annuities, pension and provident funds can hold at most 45% offshore under Regulation 28 — so much of that money stays in rand, and the global spread has to come from your other investments or, once you retire, a living annuity. The task is simply to understand that spread, and to make sure the money you'll need soon isn't exposed to it.

The three currencies most expats deal with

The rand

Most South Africans' wealth starts here: retirement annuities, living annuities, tax-free savings, unit trusts, property and bank accounts. The rand matters for any future costs in South Africa — a possible return home, a child at a South African university, family you support — and for SARS and estate duty.

The baht

Your living costs, rent, healthcare, school fees at an international school in Thailand and any Thai property are in baht. The baht also matters for visas: a retirement extension typically needs ฿800,000 in a Thai bank or an income of ฿65,000 a month, so a weak rand can make the requirement harder to meet — ฿65,000 is about R31,900 at ฿2.04, but about R34,400 at January 2026's ฿1.89.

The US dollar

The world's main reserve currency and the biggest single currency in global share markets. It's also the currency of many international school and university fees, and of many offshore accounts — the natural home for the hard-currency part of a South African's savings.

Other currencies

Euros, yen and many others come along inside a global portfolio, adding further spread. Some expats also have specific needs — a partner's family in Europe, say, or plans to retire to another country later.

The golden rule: match money to where you'll spend it

The simplest and most powerful way to manage currency risk is to match each pot of money to the currency in which you'll spend it, at the time you'll need it. It's the same idea as matching risk to your timescale: the closer a need is, the more closely its money should match it.

• The next 12–24 months of living costs: mostly in baht, so a fall in the rand doesn't touch your day-to-day life.
• Known future costs: move into the right currency gradually as the date approaches — baht for Thai school fees or a condo, rand for a South African university, dollars or another currency for study abroad.
• Your emergency fund: mostly in baht, with some in rand or hard currency for emergencies back home.
• Long-term growth money: spread across the world through a global portfolio — moved offshore within your allowance — where currency moves tend to balance out over time.

Matching doesn't mean predicting. It means arranging your money so that the currencies you hold line up with the currencies you'll need — and so that short-term swings in exchange rates have very little effect on your life.

Matching each pot to a currency

A simple way to think about where each part of your money should sit.

The closer the need, the more closely its money should match the currency you'll spend.

Hedged and unhedged funds

Many funds come in two versions: an ordinary, unhedged version, whose value moves with exchange rates, and a currency-hedged version, which uses contracts to remove most of the currency effect and return the investment's performance in one chosen currency — usually dollars, euros or sometimes rand.

Where hedging helps

Hedging works best for bonds. Bonds are held for stability, and an unhedged global bond fund can swing almost as much from currency moves as from the bonds themselves. Most professional portfolios therefore hold global bonds hedged back to the investor's main currency.

Where it's less useful

For shares, the case is weaker. Shares already move a lot, and currency moves tend to even out over long periods. Many long-term investors leave share funds unhedged and accept the currency spread as part of their diversification.

The cost of hedging

Hedging isn't free. Its cost is roughly the difference in interest rates between the two currencies. With the Reserve Bank's repo rate at 7.25% and the Bank of Thailand's at 1.00%, rand cash earns far more than baht cash — which is also why baht-hedged versions of international funds are rare and can be costly. For most South Africans abroad, the practical answer is to hedge bonds to dollars or another hard currency and handle baht needs through cash and well-timed conversions instead.

Where to start

Someone to look at your currency mix alongside your investments, the right way to convert money when you need to, our number-one offshore account for hard currency, and a flat-fee route for monthly money.

Currency and retirement income

Retirees feel currency risk most directly, because their income — a living annuity, a pension or rent from a property at home — usually arrives in rand while their spending is in baht. Add rising prices in Thailand, and a weak rand can squeeze a retirement budget from two directions at once.

A few simple habits make a big difference:

• Keep one to two years of spending in baht, refilled when the rate is favourable, so you're never forced to convert at a bad moment.
• Convert regularly rather than all at once — monthly or quarterly transfers average out the rate over time.
• Use a good rate: compare what arrives, use a flat-fee payment for everyday amounts and a specialist for larger sums.
• Keep some growth investments spread across currencies, so your future income isn't tied only to the rand — a living annuity isn't bound by Regulation 28 and can hold more offshore.
• Plan for your visa: make sure the ฿800,000 deposit or ฿65,000 monthly income is comfortably covered even if the rand weakens.
• Review once a year, and move the next year's spending into baht at the same time.

Converting larger sums

When you move a large sum — a retirement lump sum, a house sale, an inheritance, money for a condo — the exchange rate and the provider can matter as much as any investment decision. A 3% margin on R4 million is R120,000 gone before you start. A specialist can usually do far better. And remember that money leaving South Africa uses your R2 million single discretionary allowance each calendar year, with SARS approval for more.

Three tools help you manage the timing:

• A forward contract fixes today's rate for a payment up to a year or more ahead, so you know exactly how many baht you'll receive.
• A limit order converts automatically if the rate reaches a level you choose.
• Phasing — converting in several tranches over weeks or months — spreads the risk of a bad day.

Our guide to forward currency contracts explains how fixing a rate works. Vita Capital, our number-one FX partner, offers all three, with a dedicated specialist to talk you through them.

Currency and education fees

School and university fees are among the biggest costs an expat family will face, and they come with a currency twist. International school fees in Thailand are charged in baht. A South African university charges in rand; one abroad in that country's currency. Many families don't yet know which their child will choose.

The answer is to plan in stages. While the fees are many years away, invest for growth across a worldwide portfolio. As each year's fees come within about three years, move that money into the currency the school or university charges, and into steadier investments. That way, neither a market fall nor a currency swing can derail your child's education just as the bills arrive.

Starting early makes a remarkable difference. With 13 years to invest, growth can pay a large share of the total. Ask about school-fee planning, or compare schools in our international schools directory.

Currency and property

Buying a condo in Thailand turns rand into a baht asset. Once you own it, its value moves with the Thai property market and the baht. That can be a useful balance to rand savings — but it also concentrates a large share of your wealth in one currency and one asset.

When you buy, the main risk is the gap between agreeing a price and paying it, which can run to months for an off-plan purchase. A forward contract can fix the rate for every payment, so the price in rand is known from day one. Our guide to currency risk during an overseas property purchase covers this in detail.

Saving in more than one currency

Many international savings plans and platforms let you choose the currency your plan is held in — commonly US dollars, euros and a few other major currencies, but not rand or baht. The choice matters: it should reflect where you'll spend the money, not where you happen to earn it.

A family planning to stay in Thailand might hold their plan in dollars and convert gradually as needs approach. Someone with a university abroad in mind might choose that country's currency. A family planning to return to South Africa might keep more in rand at home. Our guide to investment contributions in multiple currencies explains the options in more detail.

Three worked examples

Gert: a living annuity in rand, a life in baht

Gert, 68, lives in Chiang Mai on R40,000 a month from a living annuity and a portfolio of R4.4 million — all in South African funds. When the rand dipped in January, his monthly baht income fell by several thousand baht, and he started converting more from his portfolio at poor bank rates. A free review with Lawrence moves two years of spending into a baht account, switches his monthly transfers to a cheaper route, increases the global share of his living annuity and moves part of his portfolio offshore into hard currency on his allowance. Gert's income is no longer at the mercy of one exchange rate.

Elna and Joe: school fees in baht, university in rand

Elna and Joe, in Bangkok, have two children at an international school and hope both will go to university in Stellenbosch. Lawrence sets up an education plan with two stages: baht for the next three years of school fees, and a growth portfolio that moves into rand as each university start date approaches. They save monthly, and growth does much of the heavy lifting.

Ruan: a condo purchase off-plan

Ruan is buying a ฿6 million condo in Pattaya — about R2.9 million — paid in stages over eighteen months. Rather than risk the rand falling between payments, he fixes the rate for each instalment with a forward contract through Vita Capital. His price in rand is certain from day one, and the rest of his savings stay invested.

The mistakes we see most often

1. Everything in rand while all your spending is in baht.
2. Everything converted to baht at once, on a single day.
3. Waiting for the "right" rate that never comes.
4. Using a bank's standard rate for large transfers.
5. Ignoring the dollar inside a global share fund.
6. Unhedged global bonds that swing with currencies.
7. No baht buffer, so a weak rand forces conversions.
8. Forgetting the visa money when the rand falls.

Your currency checklist

• List every pot of money and the currency it's held in.
• List your spending by currency — baht, rand, dollars.
• Hold one to two years of living costs in baht.
• Move known future costs into the right currency as dates approach.
• Keep long-term money spread across the world's currencies, using your offshore allowance.
• Hedge bonds back to your main currency.
• Use a specialist for large transfers, and fix rates for big payments.
• Review your currency mix once a year.

Keeping transfers secure

Large currency transfers attract fraudsters. A few habits keep your money safe:

• Confirm bank details by phone with someone you know before any large payment.
• Never act on emailed changes to payment details without checking them yourself.
• Turn on two-factor sign-in on every bank, transfer and investment account.
• Use a private, protected connection on hotel, café and condo Wi-Fi.

How we researched this guide

We used Pound Sterling Live's rand–baht rates for 2026, Bloomberg's report on the strong baht (October 2019), MSCI's All Country World index factsheet (September 2026), the Reserve Bank and Bank of Thailand policy rates, Thai Visa Services on retirement extension requirements, and South Africa's Regulation 28 and offshore allowance rules. The income figures are simple illustrations, not forecasts. Checked 23 October 2026. Exchange rates and investment values can fall as well as rise. This guide is general information, not personal financial advice.