Experienced Investor

[thaibutty]

I am in my mid twenties and living in Thailand for almost 6 years. As I am highly keen on starting to invest some of my salary, I am seeking the advice of some experienced investors. Is there anyone, who would like to give me some hints as to how I should start.

Maybe, anyone of you guys living in Phuket, who could share some experience over a couple of beers?

[chiangmaibruce]

If you mean investing in Thailand, and you're looking for a good general intro, then you might be interested in getting hold of the book "Your Investment Guide to Thailand" (www.burning-bison.com)

[thaibutty]

Thank's to both of you for the reply. I will definitely try to get hold of that book.

As I am living in Thailand and earn my money here, I would like to invest here, however I would be open to invest in other countries as well, if that should be easier.

What I was looking at was to deposit some portion of my salary, let's say 15 -20,000 THB each month, in a fixed investment vehicle, or buy selected stocks each month for that amount.

What would be a recommendation to do with that amount, in order to get a positive return after adjustment for inflation and taxes?

How does one get started in Thailand? Any constructive ideas are welcome!

[wordchild]

Thank's to both of you for the reply. I will definitely try to get hold of that book.

As I am living in Thailand and earn my money here, I would like to invest here, however I would be open to invest in other countries as well, if that should be easier.

What I was looking at was to deposit some portion of my salary, let's say 15 -20,000 THB each month, in a fixed investment vehicle, or buy selected stocks each month for that amount.

What would be a recommendation to do with that amount, in order to get a positive return after adjustment for inflation and taxes?

How does one get started in Thailand? Any constructive ideas are welcome!

Some good answers already. Also do a search on this forum there are some other threads along these lines eg "starting a mutual fund for wife"

The best place to start is to look for information and to learn, which you seem keen to do. I always recommend to people starting out in investment to read "one up on wall street" by Peter Lynch, an excellent book full of common sense. The approach you are thinking about ie to invest a fixed amount from your salary every month is a great idea and is the way I and many others started to invest in stocks. I would not worry about the amount the important thing is to get started.

You need to consider the taxation aspect obviously , its not my area but worth looking into making tax-free contributions into an approved Provident Fund, your employer may be able to help with this. Also worth remembering that, in Thailand, there is no further personal income tax to pay on dividends after the 10% witholding tax deducted by the compay prior to paying out the dividend. There is also no capital gains tax as long as you sell on the stock market. Good Luck and have fun.

[kuffki]

I will presume that being mid 20's you still not very smart-sorry not trying to insult you.

But you are seeking advice on investment in the country where there is a foreigner arrested every day for fraud?

Country where most crims try to hide out?

Country where most expats will do all they can to screw someone over?

I am sure i will get attacked for this one, but how many smart,successful investors would relocate to Thailand or spend their time on thaivisa?

If you want to throw your money down the drain, i am sure someone from the board will contact you shortly and offer the best investment deals ever

[kuffki]

I will presume that being mid 20's you still not very smart-sorry not trying to insult you.

But you are seeking advice on investment in the country where there is a foreigner arrested every day for fraud?

Country where most crims try to hide out?

Country where most expats will do all they can to screw someone over?

I am sure i will get attacked for this one, but how many smart,successful investors would relocate to Thailand or spend their time on thaivisa?

If you want to throw your money down the drain, i am sure someone from the board will contact you shortly and offer the best investment deals ever

Ummmm, have you ever heard of Dr.Marc Farber? He is one of the most successful investors in the world, and guess what, he lives in Chiang Mai! He has a few hundred mil under management, and guess what, he is bullish on Thailand. Since you have such a strong opinion about Thailand as an investment, do you mind if we see your track record?

With your comments, one can argue that you are trying to screw over the OP by feeding him your own steaming heap of "key".

It sounds to me, like you made some bad investment decisions, and feel better laying the blame on Thailand rather than taking responsibility for your own actions. Sorry about that.

And if you are not trying to insult him with a comment like that, than just what were you trying to do? I know plenty of people that are younger than myself but have a higher level of intelligence. For you to imply that age and intelligence go hand in hand, says heaps about your own mental abilities. By the way, not trying to insult you.

You have just proved the point i was making.

Where did you read? see? understood? i was stating i was investor or offered any service or advice on investment?????

Where did you read? see? understood? i blamed Thailand as a country for bad or good decisions on investment?????

Your inability to even read shows your intelligence and mental abilities(as you like to call it) as well as once again what kind of advice OP can expect.If you can not read how can you invest? or better yet offer advice?

[kuffki]

I will presume that being mid 20's you still not very smart-sorry not trying to insult you.

But you are seeking advice on investment in the country where there is a foreigner arrested every day for fraud?

Country where most crims try to hide out?

Country where most expats will do all they can to screw someone over?

I am sure i will get attacked for this one, but how many smart,successful investors would relocate to Thailand or spend their time on thaivisa?

If you want to throw your money down the drain, i am sure someone from the board will contact you shortly and offer the best investment deals ever

Ummmm, have you ever heard of Dr.Marc Farber? He is one of the most successful investors in the world, and guess what, he lives in Chiang Mai! He has a few hundred mil under management, and guess what, he is bullish on Thailand. Since you have such a strong opinion about Thailand as an investment, do you mind if we see your track record?

With your comments, one can argue that you are trying to screw over the OP by feeding him your own steaming heap of "key".

It sounds to me, like you made some bad investment decisions, and feel better laying the blame on Thailand rather than taking responsibility for your own actions. Sorry about that.

And if you are not trying to insult him with a comment like that, than just what were you trying to do? I know plenty of people that are younger than myself but have a higher level of intelligence. For you to imply that age and intelligence go hand in hand, says heaps about your own mental abilities. By the way, not trying to insult you.

You have just proved the point i was making.

Where did you read? see? understood? i was stating i was investor or offered any service or advice on investment?????

Where did you read? see? understood? i blamed Thailand as a country for bad or good decisions on investment?????

Your inability to even read shows your intelligence and mental abilities(as you like to call it) as well as once again what kind of advice OP can expect.If you can not read how can you invest? or better yet offer advice?

You did not have to write something specific to portray your negative view of Thailand as an investment. Anyone who reads you post can comprehend this clearly.

Time to accept those poor investment decisions you made, and move on. Let people come to their own conclusions about investing in Thailand.

Good luck with your issues....

Its funny! you can not read but i have issues.

Whats worse is not only you can not read but seem to create some idea's in your head as well.

Issue in question is not about investing in Thailand

It is clear now that i would need to use basic language to explain to people like yourself who are not very good at reading simple posts

"presume that being mid 20's you still not very smart-sorry not trying to insult you" this means that irrespective of brain or intelligence, in mid 20's people do not have much life experience and have very different perception of thing as compared to people say in 50's

"But you are seeking advice on investment in the country where there is a foreigner arrested every day for fraud?"This means- Daily there are arrests of foreigner for fraud or something alike. There countless number of conman in Thailand, foreigners who try to take advantage of people like yourself and anyone else who may not know much. And yes they appear very well spoken and dressed and present themselves in the best light-that's why they are conman and manage to con people out of millions.

"Country where most crims try to hide out" This means that a large number of crims move over to Thailand, clearly they were not investors back home. Other majority are retired pensioners, i am sorry to say but i am yet to meet a rich pensioner to retired in Thailand. Most chose to retire in Thailand because they could not have even half of what they have here back home, hence retiring in Thailand.

"Country where most expats will do all they can to screw someone over?"This means that a large number of expats would rather see another fail then be succesful and should someone make it, rest assured he will be reported to either BIB or Immigration or tax office to ensure he will lose everything. They do nothing but run scams on each other and report each other to authorities. clearly this does not concern retired people.

Your post is a clear case of having no understanding nor ability to read yet you are here criticizing and assuming things.

Investing in Thailand right now, you would have to be mental to invest any money this year in Thailand.Putting aside political instability, constant change of laws and rules (regarding ownership,visa's, business rules, taxes etc etc etc,)crack down on crack downs, Thai government confirming it could go bankrupt in less then 2 years. Just one fact alone that Stock Market can be closed down because its dropping too many points, is an indication alone not to invest in Thai stocks. The fact that Thai stock market is not a free market but regulated and controlled is another reason not to invest.

But all that said, what would i know, apparently i am not very intelligent and have mental issues. So OP should listen to people like you who are happy to help with no ill intentions.

Oh almost forgot, once again, i never offered any advice or services to OP nor did i suggest he should not be investing in Thailand. The only advice i would give to OP is to contact reputable firm back in his home country and seek their advise on how and where to invest. Alternatively if he has enough money in the bank back home, most reputable banks offer that service FREE of charge for their account holders who have more then few thousand $ in the bank

DO NOT accept any offers of partnership in anything, DO NOT purchase any property without having "good" lawyer checking out all the legality's, DO NOT take any action from suggestions received from people you do not know irrespective of what they tell you or show you. If something sounds too good to be true and easy money-rest assured it is not.

And once again, OP if you want some good examples of "legit" investment scams in Thailand, send me PM and i will point you to some names and few business and people running it. Mind you they legally offer huge returns on 10%+ on your money and most likely are members of this forum

[ExpatJ]

(quote once again, OP if you want some good examples of "legit" investment scams in Thailand, send me PM and i will point you to some names and few business and people running it. Mind you they legally offer huge returns on 10%+ on your money and most likely are members of this forum

You are too pessimistic i feel. Your point here : " the Market can be closed down because its dropping too many points,"- i presume you mean that when the SET index drops 10% the market is closed for 30 minutes for a 'cooling off period'? That happens all over the world, not just thailand.

I am a farang investor in the stock exchange here (who likes to post here and elsewhere sometimes partly to help think through my own investment strategies and there are some good tips here sometimes). There are opportunities to make money on the stock exchange here as either a buy and hold stocks investor (Thai dividends are amongst the highest in the world) or as a more regular day trader (i have had 3 of my stocks increase 5% in one day in the last 2 weeks). Overall my portfolio is up even this week during all this political uncertainty - yesterday my portfolio increased 4.5% for example. BUT you do need to research your stocks well- i typically spend hours selecting the stocks on my watchlist/buy list.

Thai property market is still good for condo investments - the housing market crashed in USA/UK after the economic crisis- in Thailand if you had a condo is probably increased in price if anything. Also whereas 1000s of western banks went bankrupt last 2 years, no thai banks did.

just thought id make the case for investing in thailand!

One thing i do agree with you on- about avoiding local farang 'investment advisers'- if you need advice or a stock broker go to one of the big international banks (they all have offices in bangkok) or even big local Thai banks (SCB is excellent and has v good stock research unit).

[thaibutty]

I will presume that being mid 20's you still not very smart-sorry not trying to insult you.

But you are seeking advice on investment in the country where there is a foreigner arrested every day for fraud?

Country where most crims try to hide out?

Country where most expats will do all they can to screw someone over?

I am sure i will get attacked for this one, but how many smart,successful investors would relocate to Thailand or spend their time on thaivisa?

If you want to throw your money down the drain, i am sure someone from the board will contact you shortly and offer the best investment deals ever

Despite being only in my mid-twenties, I would consider myself smart enough to figure out good from bad advice and I do realize when someone is trying to scam me. You don't have to be in your 50ies to be scam-proof and I know a lot of people who are a lot older than me, who got scammed.

I have lived long enough in Thailand, to know the common scams and I have educated myself enough to recognize good from bad opportunities. My brain is actually quite good in thinking logically, so I see myself on the safe side.

Do you have ever invested any money? Did you invest in Thailand? If yes, kindly share your experience so others can learn. If not, how are you able to provide any advice?

I see so many people getting stuck in life, because of their negative view of everything and their fear of losing many holding them back from creating wealth.

And even, as a, "not yet", smart guy realize they must be doing something wrong or they would be more happy and more wealthy.

So, if doing nothing instead of complaining and being afraid oflosing, leads you to a life in misery and without money, than maybe, but just maybe, doing the opposite might just work in giving you a wealthy and happy life.

[ExpatJ]

I will presume that being mid 20's you still not very smart-sorry not trying to insult you.

But you are seeking advice on investment in the country where there is a foreigner arrested every day for fraud?

Country where most crims try to hide out?

Country where most expats will do all they can to screw someone over?

I am sure i will get attacked for this one, but how many smart,successful investors would relocate to Thailand or spend their time on thaivisa?

If you want to throw your money down the drain, i am sure someone from the board will contact you shortly and offer the best investment deals ever

Despite being only in my mid-twenties, I would consider myself smart enough to figure out good from bad advice and I do realize when someone is trying to scam me. You don't have to be in your 50ies to be scam-proof and I know a lot of people who are a lot older than me, who got scammed.

I have lived long enough in Thailand, to know the common scams and I have educated myself enough to recognize good from bad opportunities. My brain is actually quite good in thinking logically, so I see myself on the safe side.

Do you have ever invested any money? Did you invest in Thailand? If yes, kindly share your experience so others can learn. If not, how are you able to provide any advice?

I see so many people getting stuck in life, because of their negative view of everything and their fear of losing many holding them back from creating wealth.

And even, as a, "not yet", smart guy realize they must be doing something wrong or they would be more happy and more wealthy.

So, if doing nothing instead of complaining and being afraid oflosing, leads you to a life in misery and without money, than maybe, but just maybe, doing the opposite might just work in giving you a wealthy and happy life.

I think you have the right attitude and are on the right path for a financially comfortable future. My father always told me to start thinking about pensions when i was in my 20s and i think its good advice to start putting away money at that stage (even if small sums). I am surprised about the number of retirees who are forced to retire on 1 to 2,000 US$ per month or equivalent; there is no margin of error there should things go wrong. Having sad that some people can deal with that level of uncertainty and be happy (im not one of them and so am aiming to retire in my mid-late 50s with a bigger buffer i.e. $ amount per month .. (im 39 now). My final pension will be made up of :

1) rental properties (my goal is to have 5-8 rental properties around Asia mostly Bangkok, Jakarta) bring steady income every month.

2) company pension which i pay about 15% of my salary into every month.

3) investing in stocks now to bring in greater returns than bank savings accounts..

Ideally id like to retire early and start a hobby business that would bring in a abit of spending money e.g. sport fishing boat.

[PCA]

I will presume that being mid 20's you still not very smart-sorry not trying to insult you.

But you are seeking advice on investment in the country where there is a foreigner arrested every day for fraud?

Country where most crims try to hide out?

Country where most expats will do all they can to screw someone over?

I am sure i will get attacked for this one, but how many smart,successful investors would relocate to Thailand or spend their time on thaivisa?

If you want to throw your money down the drain, i am sure someone from the board will contact you shortly and offer the best investment deals ever

Despite being only in my mid-twenties, I would consider myself smart enough to figure out good from bad advice and I do realize when someone is trying to scam me. You don't have to be in your 50ies to be scam-proof and I know a lot of people who are a lot older than me, who got scammed.

I have lived long enough in Thailand, to know the common scams and I have educated myself enough to recognize good from bad opportunities. My brain is actually quite good in thinking logically, so I see myself on the safe side.

Do you have ever invested any money? Did you invest in Thailand? If yes, kindly share your experience so others can learn. If not, how are you able to provide any advice?

I see so many people getting stuck in life, because of their negative view of everything and their fear of losing many holding them back from creating wealth.

And even, as a, "not yet", smart guy realize they must be doing something wrong or they would be more happy and more wealthy.

So, if doing nothing instead of complaining and being afraid oflosing, leads you to a life in misery and without money, than maybe, but just maybe, doing the opposite might just work in giving you a wealthy and happy life.

kuffki is right and his post is the one you should primary focus on. Many crooks around and from the people here nobody is qualified to help you out. Beyond that talking smart and acting smart are two different things and as pointed out if you have to look for information here you are not as experienced as you might believe you are.

VIBE sounds experienced in regard of stocks which is clearly visible when he describes the entry strategy and reason for the toyota shares in another thread so there might be something he could share for the stock markets and your idea to regularly average in but dont listen to any other kind of investment ideas that might suddenly pop up in you PM box and start to educate yourself

[thaibutty]

I will presume that being mid 20's you still not very smart-sorry not trying to insult you.

But you are seeking advice on investment in the country where there is a foreigner arrested every day for fraud?

Country where most crims try to hide out?

Country where most expats will do all they can to screw someone over?

I am sure i will get attacked for this one, but how many smart,successful investors would relocate to Thailand or spend their time on thaivisa?

If you want to throw your money down the drain, i am sure someone from the board will contact you shortly and offer the best investment deals ever

Despite being only in my mid-twenties, I would consider myself smart enough to figure out good from bad advice and I do realize when someone is trying to scam me. You don't have to be in your 50ies to be scam-proof and I know a lot of people who are a lot older than me, who got scammed.

I have lived long enough in Thailand, to know the common scams and I have educated myself enough to recognize good from bad opportunities. My brain is actually quite good in thinking logically, so I see myself on the safe side.

Do you have ever invested any money? Did you invest in Thailand? If yes, kindly share your experience so others can learn. If not, how are you able to provide any advice?

I see so many people getting stuck in life, because of their negative view of everything and their fear of losing many holding them back from creating wealth.

And even, as a, "not yet", smart guy realize they must be doing something wrong or they would be more happy and more wealthy.

So, if doing nothing instead of complaining and being afraid oflosing, leads you to a life in misery and without money, than maybe, but just maybe, doing the opposite might just work in giving you a wealthy and happy life.

kuffki is right and his post is the one you should primary focus on. Many crooks around and from the people here nobody is qualified to help you out. Beyond that talking smart and acting smart are two different things and as pointed out if you have to look for information here you are not as experienced as you might believe you are.

VIBE sounds experienced in regard of stocks which is clearly visible when he describes the entry strategy and reason for the toyota shares in another thread so there might be something he could share for the stock markets and your idea to regularly average in but dont listen to any other kind of investment ideas that might suddenly pop up in you PM box and start to educate yourself

Kuffki might be right that there are a lot of scams around and that many people, also on Thaivisa, are just going to rip one off. I was aware of this before I started this topic.

However, from what I can see there are a lot of experienced people on this Forum and if I can get just a few good ideas I am glad, which by the way, I already got, such as the books.

Should there be any investment ideas in my PM box I will most certainly pay the required attention in order not to get scammed.

My intention is to get some ideas of what others have done, to broaden my horizon, further educate myself and finally invest in something I believe, because I have done the due diligence to find out about the opportunity.

[ExpatJ]

One stock tip : UMS mining company...its a solid growth stock and it has a very very low RSI index, below 30...im just waiting for the MACD line to indicate buy (probably sometime next week) ill put my money where my mouth is then:) then i predict a big price increase over the coming weeks. Lets see.