I have just thrown together a table showing gross returns for 18 different types of Thai investments each year for the past three years.

The investment types are listed below:

Single detached house with land (sale)

Bangkok condo (average rental yield for all sizes of condos)

SET average dividend yield

Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Total return Index

Thai government bond yield (average of 14 bonds)

Savings deposit bank account (median value)

3-month fixed bank deposit (median value)

1-year fixed bank deposit (median value)

2-year fixed bank deposit (median value)

Return on private lending (based on legal max. %)

Thai managed fund/Fixed-income (average of 300 funds)

Thai managed fund/equity (average of 219 funds)

Thai managed fund/mixed (average of 114 funds)

Thai managed fund/fund of funds (average of 146 funds)

Thai managed fund/property (average of 35 funds)

iShares: MSCI Thailand Fund (offshore fund)

The Thailand Fund (offshore fund)

Gold

Anyone care to guess the top five in 2011? 2010? 2009? To start you off, only four investment types featured more than once in the top five in those three years, and none featured in the top five every year. I also included 'Thailand core inflation rate' within the table as a reference point ... it came in at 13th place in 2011, 18th place in 2010, and 10th place in 2009.

Yes, I know this is a simplistic comparison. No, you wouldn't go out and invest based on these results alone. Yes, there are many provisos inherent in the data, as well as variations between individual investors ... and differences in risk ... yet it's still kind of interesting to see how things stack up in a 'back of the envelope' kind of way.

what about the next 3 years?

what about the next 3 years?

I can manage that for you, though it will take some time to run the calculations.

Let's pencil in a date to discuss my findings ... how does your diary look for January 2015?

Looks like no one cares to take a stab so here are the results for 2011 with provisos and disclaimers aplenty:

1. Gold @ +16.34%

2. Return on private money lending - based on legal max. 15%

3. Single detached house with land (sale) +12.16%

4. The Thailand Fund (offshore fund) +6.68%

5. Bangkok condo (average rental yield for all sizes of condos) +5.8%

6. Thai managed fund/property (average of 35 funds) +5.31%

7. SET average dividend yield +3.72%

8. Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Total return Index +3.69%

9. 2-year fixed bank deposit (median value) +3.13%

10. Thai government bond yield (average of 14 bonds) +3.12%

11. 1-year fixed bank deposit (median value) +2.93%

12. Thai managed fund/Fixed-income (average of 300 funds) +2.73%

13. Thailand Core Inflation Rate +2.66%

14. 3-month fixed bank deposit (median value) +2.58%

15. Savings deposit bank account (median value) +1.38%

16. iShares: MSCI Thailand Fund (offshore fund) +0.25%

17. Thai managed fund/equity (average of 219 funds) -0.7%

18. Thai managed fund/mixed (average of 114 funds) -1.35%

19. Thai managed fund/fund of funds (average of 146 funds) -5.85%

I'm heavy cash in my US investments earning next to nothing. Some of these Thai bank deposits and bonds look interesting in comparison.