European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Money matters sunday december l 8,1994 shown below Are the highest Dollar Exchange rates for the week of dec. 12 dec. 16 compared with Dollar rates for the same period one year and five years ago. German Mark one Dollar would buy you 1.771.54 1.67 1994 i 1993 i 1989mmmmmi Mumm military Exchange rate British Pound one Pound would Cost you 1.60 a 1.591.52 1994 belgian franc one Dollar would buy you 37.18 32.51 35.88 dutch Guilder one Dollar would buy you 1.76 1 87 1994 1993 1989 French franc one Dollar would buy you 5.43 5.86 6 05 greek drachma one Dollar would buy you 243.82 238.57 162.15 italian lira one Dollar would buy you 1,638 1,694 1994 1989 Spanish peseta one Dollar would buy you 132.44 141.25 1989 turkish lira one Dollar would buy you 37,700 1994 14,045 1993 i 2,311 1989 at Power Ranger no Rescue at $5-ptus a Day most workers can t afford superheroes by Sheila Mcnulty the associated press Bangkok Thailand. There s no shortage of mighty Murphin Power rangers for Lamduan Cha Somboon. She s surrounded by them working 13 hours a Day assembling pieces of folded plastic to try to meet the insatiable de mands of Western children for the hit toy. But she could never afford one herself. The 38-year-old thai earns $5 a Day with 84 cents extra for each overtime hour to attach up to 500 dragon Ord shoulder Shields onto the Power Ranger heros each hour in a race to put the hit toys under Christmas Trees in Europe and America. The rangers Cost $13.50 on average in the United states but in Bangkok the asking Price is $88 Aliede far out of Cha Somboon s Range. She works on. It s too much but i can do it if i Don t Stop Cha Somboon said. I cannot smile. I cannot talk. I cannot make a  when it became Clear the Power rang ers were going to be the ultimate prize of the . Christmas season the bustling japanese owned Bandai factory on bang Kok s outskirts hired 600 More people bringing its work Force to 2,000. It started producing around the clock and boosted its output from 150,000 to 725,000 toys a Mont i Vav. -.,. All of us should feel like Santa Claus said Tawatchai pings thiong Deputy manager of the japanese owned Bandai factory. Our production now is at maximum  it still in t enough. Stores in the United states have limited the number of Power Ranger toys each customer May buy and some Des Perate shoppers have reportedly scuffled Over dwindling supplies of the 8-Inch-tall rangers their Dinosaur Ian Power words and the. Thunder Ord Battle machines. According to Mary Woodworth a spokeswoman for Bandai America Power Ranger toys Are being made in nine plants in China three in Thailand two in Japan and one each in Taiwan and Mexico. She said four More plants in China would begin production soon. Bandai said it expects sales in the United states alone to top $300 million in the year ending next March 10 times More than in the previous year. At the factory outside Bangkok Hun Derrick Buford 6, of Inglewood calif., grabs a mighty morphine Power Ranger charac Ter from a shelf in a Culver City calif., toy store last week. The popularity of the toys based on the hit to show has created shortages throughout the Western world. Dress of workers flank rows of conveyor belts snapping together body parts and shoulder Armor and inserting screws and Springs. In another room workers Don surgical masks while painting eyes and noses on the assorted Ranger characters five teen agers chosen to Rescue the planet from evil space invaders led by the villain Rita repulse. Moving along the Assembly lines the plastic pieces morph into every charac Ter from the Sabe tooth Tiger Dino Ord to titans the Carrier Zord that totes the other words. It s quiet except for the hum of machines stamping out Power Ranger parts and the whirr of drills digging into Mold de plastic. The factory is clean air conditioned and brightly lit. Workers get an hour off for lunch and two 10-minute Breaks.  The conditions Are Superior to those in Many factories in Thailand where some sweatshops Are known to lock their labor ers in and sometimes Chain or beat them. But great working conditions Don t translate into any special deals on buying the toys they make. The Power rangers television show has been on thai television about a year and the toys Are popu Lar but they re even scarcer in thai stores than overseas. Ninety percent Are rushed off Assembly lines into shipping containers bound for the United states. The rest go to Europe and Canada. At Bangkok s Robinson department store Saleswoman Nurak Tham Wangthai said the toy department has never received More than six Power rangers a month and none at All for the last two months. The toys which at $88 Are the store s most expensive Don t stay on the shelves Long. We be tried to order More but there Are no supplies she said. Yesterday alone three or four customers came to ask for  she said the inquiries Are mostly by foreigners usually japanese and american. When the rangers Are in Stock factory worker Sawai Kan Narong 30, sometimes takes her 3-year-old son to look at the toys she produces. Similar Pride and pleasure Are voiced by other workers who despite the Gruel ing hours seem Happy to be pumping out the hottest gift of the Christmas season. My family is proud that i make such a modern popular amazing toy said Varaporn Poksawat 27, who says she puts in about 11 hours a Day. Lamduan says she s just Happy for the overtime. She normally earns $5.40 for an eight hour shift 40 cents of which goes to the agent who got her the Job bringing her earnings under Thailand s official daily minimum wage of $5.20. She works three to five hours of Over time a Day earning an extra $2.50 to$4.20. If there was no overtime How could i afford food she asks Over a simple meal of Rice and salad she buys at a stall across a Highway from the factory. I want to buy a Power Ranger she adds. But even if they were sold Here i could t buy one. They re too  be Board discusses possible tie to Turners a by the los Angeles times new York a possible partnership Between Turner broadcasting and general electric Abc network s Parent company was discussed Friday at a regularly scheduled be Board meeting in new York but no Deal was on the table and the be Board took no action sources said. Turner broadcasting chairman Ted Turner be chairman John f. Jack Welchjr. And Abc president Robert  have been in exploratory talks re Garding a possible merger or other partnership Between the two companies. Abc and Turner executives see Syner Gies Between Abc news and Turner s can for example As Well As Between Abc entertainment and Turners int Tbs and cartoon network. But while Turner has made no secret of his desire to acquire a network sources say that be will require 51 per cent ownership of any combined company one possible scenario should be for Turner to Issue Stock in a merger that would leave be a significant shareholder in the combined company. Time Warner and Tele communications inc., Turner s two biggest shareholders might remain investors with Vot ing shares reduced below 5 percent. Turner is said to have the support of Sci chief executive John c. Malone in his talks with be but he also would need the approval of time Warner in the event of a Deal. Turner