How Can A Foreigner Invest In The SET ?

[Tengkorak]

Hello,

I have been living in Bangkok for almost 2 years with a non-o visa and currently not employed in Thailand. ( So no working permit). What I'd like to know is how I can invest in the Stock Exchange of Thailand? My wife is Thai but she is also not employed. The stock broking company informed me that it is very hard for a foreigner (even with work permit) to start a stock trading account in Thailand. If that is true, then it would mean that it is impossible for a foreigner who is without work permit to start one. Then how is it that there's many foreign investors ? Are these mostly institutional investors from abroad?

Would appreciate anybody's help on this.

Thanks

Tengkorak

Edited June 4, 2007 by Tengkorak

[jbaldwin]

I have invested in Siam Commercial Bank SET Index Fund. Just when into a branch with a passport and some cash. I used the Jomtien branch. They only looked at the photo page of the passport and did not check the type of visa I was holding.

I made a number of investments between the beginning of March and mid-May and currently have an average gain of 13.5%

[bander]

Hello,

I have been living in Bangkok for almost 2 years with a non-o visa and currently not employed in Thailand. ( So no working permit). What I'd like to know is how I can invest in the Stock Exchange of Thailand? My wife is Thai but she is also not employed. The stock broking company informed me that it is very hard for a foreigner (even with work permit) to start a stock trading account in Thailand. If that is true, then it would mean that it is impossible for a foreigner who is without work permit to start one. Then how is it that there's many foreign investors ? Are these mostly institutional investors from abroad?

Would appreciate anybody's help on this.

Thanks

Tengkorak

I don't know if you can directly buy/sell shares in the thai stock market, but you can buy shares in funds here http://www.ayfunds.com/en/index.asp#

I bougt shares in this fund some years ago on a 30 days visa on arrival.

[RusT]

Hello,

I have been living in Bangkok for almost 2 years with a non-o visa and currently not employed in Thailand. ( So no working permit). What I'd like to know is how I can invest in the Stock Exchange of Thailand? My wife is Thai but she is also not employed. The stock broking company informed me that it is very hard for a foreigner (even with work permit) to start a stock trading account in Thailand. If that is true, then it would mean that it is impossible for a foreigner who is without work permit to start one. Then how is it that there's many foreign investors ? Are these mostly institutional investors from abroad?

Would appreciate anybody's help on this.

Thanks

Tengkorak

I don't know which brokerage firm you spoke with but unless the rules have changed, as far as I know, as a foreigner you can buy stocks in Thailand with or without a work permit. I trade under my Thai wife's name (whether she is employed or not doesn't matter) to keep it nice and simple but you can also trade under your name on the foreign board. I did hear a while back that if you relinquish your voting rights you can trade on the local board but I can't confirm this so you would need to check this out yourself.

If you haven't done so already try contacting some other brokerage firms.

[Misty]

I did hear a while back that if you relinquish your voting rights you can trade on the local board but I can't confirm this so you would need to check this out yourself.

As a foreigner you can trade on the local board in this way: when you go to purchase a local share, your foreign registered brokerage account will be issued NVDRs (Non-Voting Depository Receipts) instead of the actual shares. The NVDRs function just like shares in terms of economic rights (you get dividends, you get to participate in rights issues, and you buy and sell them just like shares). As RusT mentions, what you don't get is voting rights. The NVDRs are backed by shares that are held by the NVDR company at the SET.

I think the SET's website has more information on how this works if you're interested.

Cheers, Misty

[Edonista]

Hello,

I have been living in Bangkok for almost 2 years with a non-o visa and currently not employed in Thailand. ( So no working permit). What I'd like to know is how I can invest in the Stock Exchange of Thailand? My wife is Thai but she is also not employed. The stock broking company informed me that it is very hard for a foreigner (even with work permit) to start a stock trading account in Thailand. If that is true, then it would mean that it is impossible for a foreigner who is without work permit to start one. Then how is it that there's many foreign investors ? Are these mostly institutional investors from abroad?

Would appreciate anybody's help on this.

Thanks

Tengkorak

Just one month ago I opened an online stock trading account at Seamico and they asked just my passport.

[Tengkorak]

Just one month ago I opened an online stock trading account at Seamico and they asked just my passport.

Ok. I will call Seamico. Do you have their hunting tel. line?

Many thanks !

[Edonista]

Ok. I will call Seamico. Do you have their hunting tel. line?

Many thanks !

http://www.seamico.com/eng/contact/contact.asp

if you live in Pattaya, their local branch is on Second Road just opposite Bangkok Bank, near Soi Six (so you can party after a hard day of trading )

[xdc]

how did it go?

err its not hard at all to open an account as a foreigner.

All you need is a passport and a bank passbook.

Should be no problem opening a "cash balance" account ie a prepaid account.

Then again, i work for a brokerage firm.

cheers