Thai Baht Falls to 3-Week Low as Protesters Block Parliament

By Anuchit Nguyen

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand's baht fell after police fired tear gas at protesters blocking access to parliament, deepening concern the political crisis that toppled former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will spur overseas stock sales.

The baht slid to its lowest level in three weeks against the dollar after police this morning sought to disperse protesters preventing the new Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, from presenting his administration's policies to lawmakers. Three people were ``seriously'' injured, the state-owned NBT television network reported.

The baht fell as much as 0.6 percent to 34.59 per dollar, the weakest since Sept. 19, before trading at 34.55 as of 9:09 p.m. in Bangkok, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency declined 0.8 percent last week and is the third-worst performer this year among Asia's 10 most-active currencies.

``The news about the clash has accelerated the baht's weakness, which has already been depressed by outflows of foreign investment from the stock market,'' said Usara Wilaipich, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Bangkok. ``The escalating political conflict will certainly spur additional selling of stocks by overseas investors.''

Investors Sell

Overseas investors sold 2.2 billion baht ($64 million) of Thai stocks more than they bought yesterday, an 11th straight day of net selling, according to Bloomberg's data.

Thousands of mostly middle-class Bangkok residents, who have occupied the prime minister's office since Aug. 26, advanced to surround parliament last night to prevent today's session. Somchai called on the police to ensure that lawmakers can convene, saying they were ``representing the whole country.''

Thousands of protesters blocked off access to roads around parliament, setting up barriers of tires stacked chest-high, next to barbed wire metal fences. Many of the protesters wore helmets and goggles, and they carried wooden planks and metal bars as weapons.

``Some of us got our feet blown up,'' Sawit Kaewwan, who led the protesters surrounding the parliament building, told Channel 3 television network. ``It's not just tear gas, as people got hurt from shrapnel.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at anguyen@bloomberg.net