Where to invest or get a return with your THB?

[ReloTH]

For those generating a THB income from their jobs & businesses etc I would be interested to know where & how are you investing that THB or alternatively Thai bank accounts that are paying the highest interest rates (am aware the % not comparable to the West by any means). Thanks in advance! 

 

(No doubt opening myself up for many water buffalo anecdotes but if we could pls keep this thread on topic!)

[Mike Lister]

I think you have to take a view first of all on the future of THB and whether or not you want to keep your assets in THB. 

 

As far as investments  go here, there aren't any options that are comparable to those in the West, at least not at the same cost and similar risk regarding oversight.

 

If you think THB is going to strengthen going forward, simply holding THB and taking say 2.5% in a fixed interest account may be the safest option. It also depends on what you plans are longer term and whether you plan to remain in Thailand indefinitely. It will also help to understand if you have a home currency such as GBP or USD.

 

Personally, I think the future of THB is for a stronger baht, I think within three years we can expect to see sub 40 against GBP once again. I don't mean to try and derail your thread into a discussion about currency futures but it's important to understand what your longer term ambitions are.

 

The Thai SET is not a great performer and the Thai bonds market restricts you to the secondary market which is expensive because of fees. Bank products such as LTF's might be useful if you want a tax deduction but that's a five or ten year proposition and again, it's mostly SET based. Some international mutual funds exist but the middle man charges are once again expensive. So perhaps you can add some more meat to your story and give us a more complete profile of your plans.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

A farang friend and his gf invest since a couple of years in small cheap Thai condominium which they rent out.

The rent is maybe 2000 to 3000B per month to give you an idea about these things.

It seems they make good money with that, about 10% ROI, and they buy more and more of them. I think by now they own about 10 of these small non-luxury condominiums.

 

[ReloTH]

Thank you for both your responses.

 

@Mike Lister good questions raised. Whilst it's very possible I may work overseas in the short to mid term, Thailand is at least the long term destination. Whatever happens with the proposed Thai Tax amendments next year it's given me pause for thought how fragile status quo is here & that taxing overseas income plausible at some point of time, even if not 2024.

 

Therefore is it prudent to keep THB in Thailand & invest locally versus send overseas for investment & repatriate with intention to repatriate to Thailand in the future?

 

I don't have an opinion on the direction of the THB so appreciate your input. 

[Mike Lister]

Just now, ReloTH said:

Thank you for both your responses.

 

@Mike Lister good questions raised. Whilst it's very possible I may work overseas in the short to mid term, Thailand is at least the long term destination. Whatever happens with the proposed Thai Tax amendments next year it's given me pause for thought how fragile status quo is here & that taxing overseas income plausible at some point of time, even if not 2024.

 

Therefore is it prudent to keep THB in Thailand & invest locally versus send overseas for investment & repatriate with intention to repatriate to Thailand in the future?

 

I don't have an opinion on the direction of the THB so appreciate your input. 

Understood. There are two issues, one is the longer term direction of THB and the other, investments within Thailand.

 

The easy one is THB direction. Pre-covid THB was dipping below 30 to the Dollar and and as low as 37 against GBP. All the indicators are that THB will continue that journey sooner rather than later so I would look for a medium and long term strengthening of the Baht. You will need to form your own views on this, (I'm not willing to debate this here with other posters). If that's correct, that means you'll see an increase in value in your THB assets but that's only useful if you want to move out of THB and into another currency later. At a minimum, I would say that holding THB is safe bet rather than a risky one.

 

The second part is more tricky. Firstly, there is very little investment oversight in Thailand which means you wont have the same protection as you would in the West. Because of that, it's sensible to restrict yourself to larger banks investment houses but that comes at a cost. If you understand investing you could try to have a chat with the likes of UOB Asset Management to see what products they have that might suit. The used to have a very good LTF product that did really well and was also a useful tax deduction but I haven't heard much else since. You might also look at people such as Aberdeen Asset Management who often have interesting offerings. But these things rely on you being somewhat investing and fund savvy and also having a clear idea about your tolerance from risk and your investment horizon. 

 

The next level down/along is the bond market which as I said earlier, it's difficult for a foreigner to enter the primary market without a broker (which is costly) so that leaves you to the secondary market and the banks where once again, profit is eaten up in fees.

 

The final steps are investing in the SET for say dividend income, or the banks and fixed deposits.

 

Investing in real estate and flipping inexpensive units is an other option, as the poriorposter suggested but that requires knowledge, effort and time.

 

Maybe that's enough for now just to get you thinking.

[Lacessit]

IMO there is so much corruption in Thailand it is difficult to know where to park excess money.

The OP might want to consider buying Thai gold. It is a currency hedge, not an investment. It does not earn interest.

Gold's main advantages are it needs no supervision, and is extremely unlikely to lose value except for short-term fluctuations.

Personally, I have never lost money buying and selling precious metals.

[persimmon]

Investing in condos sounds good . There is a slight problem though - some condos seem to go downhill and look scruffy and dilapidated . If this happens , it might be difficult to get your money out if you need to .

[bikerlou47]

https://xn--42cah7d0cxcvbbb9x.com/

 

The above site will show you the appreciation of buying Thai gold over the years.

I have been quite happy putting 50% in Thai gold.

The other 50% stays in the west.

 

Good Luck

[ReloTH]

Appreciate the responses received so far, has already given me plenty of food for thought, thank you !