Best Way To Invest 1,000,000 Baht In Thailand

[fanciman]

As serious as this board can be, please. Well, i am writing to get some serious answers, but i am not going to be upset if there are are few funny ones.

I noticed that Thailand was ranked 18th in the world as the best place to invest. (Beating Malaysia by quite a way, i was surprised to see.)

What sort of business would be the best to buy/capitalize with, on a budget of a million baht? Lets say the investor would be an expat, and the owner/manager of the business. (Makes me wonder whether just having a particular skill set would change the choice much, but lets see what people have to say.)

I look forward to reading your posts!

[Khun Jean]

Well you asked a serious question so it deserves a very serious answer.

Best Way To Invest 1,000,000 Baht In Thailand.

Don't.

Why?

I can think of at least 17 reasons why.

[fxm88]

I noticed that Thailand was ranked 18th in the world as the best place to invest. (Beating Malaysia by quite a way, i was surprised to see.)

What sort of business would be the best to buy/capitalize with, on a budget of a million baht? Lets say the investor would be an expat, and the owner/manager of the business. (Makes me wonder whether just having a particular skill set would change the choice much, but lets see what people have to say.)

As I point out in this post it's not the 18th best place to invest, it's the 18th best place to "do business". (In that study Thailand ranks 33rd in the category "Protecting Investors".)

The best kind of business to start in Thailand is the same kind as anywhere else: one where you can capture or create a good chunk of the market, defend your position and keep out competitors, all while making a nice profit. Sadly, as foreigners with small money, this doesn't leave us with too many options.

[Vespa]

As serious as this board can be, please. Well, i am writing to get some serious answers, but i am not going to be upset if there are are few funny ones.

I noticed that Thailand was ranked 18th in the world as the best place to invest. (Beating Malaysia by quite a way, i was surprised to see.)

What sort of business would be the best to buy/capitalize with, on a budget of a million baht? Lets say the investor would be an expat, and the owner/manager of the business. (Makes me wonder whether just having a particular skill set would change the choice much, but lets see what people have to say.)

I look forward to reading your posts!

1 million baht is chump change.

[udon]

OP....Why would you want to invest one cent in Thailand?

Troll?

edit:typo.

Edited September 10, 2006 by udon

[Vespa]

OP....Why would you want to invest one cent in Thailand?

Troll?

edit:typo.

A condo can be a good investment , atleast they were and can be rented out and eventually sold at a profit ?

[Sir Burr]

Buy some land in Phuket.

[ilyushin]

Even it is small money you could consider an investment in a fixed bank account, small studio condo, GSB lottery, chae (Thai mututal fund), contraband or buy into an existing business that you have skills to offer

You could go into politics! Bet the 1 million baht that Thaksin will remain in power after the next election. In two months you will have a 100% return on investment.

Edited September 10, 2006 by ilyushin

[rcm]

1 million baht is chump change.

unfortunately this is right....1 million Baht doesn't really get you far. As Investement i would rather leave it out in a stronger Currency than the Baht is. One other option that may be good for the Million ,is Gold ...but i can't think of anything else .

good luck with whatever you decide to invest into.

rcm

[ilyushin]

Opportunity

[nostrel]

organic fruit growing . find a fruit thats not much grown in LOS yet . grapefruits, square melons,goji berries, blueberries for home consumption or export.

low labour costs high resale value.

[naturalpoints]

OP....Why would you want to invest one cent in Thailand?

Troll?

edit:typo.

A condo can be a good investment , atleast they were and can be rented out and eventually sold at a profit ?

Good idea on the property investment bit!

1 million is spare change for the richin Asia. Do you know how rich Asians are? The rich are just too ###### rich!! They make western millionaires look stupid!

Thailand maybe 18th in the list. Why not go further south and invest in the no. 1 country for business - Singapore.

[think_too_mut]

organic fruit growing . find a fruit thats not much grown in LOS yet . grapefruits, square melons,goji berries, blueberries for home consumption or export.

low labour costs high resale value.

Is it a good advice?

For durians, export to Australia, 200 out of 1000 have to be inspected and trashed.

If something is found, the whole contigent goes bust.

Let's try something that is not on the existing "trade agreements" lists. A long way to nowhere.

BTW, 1 million baht is less than a 2 months salary of a reasonable expat in BKK.

[Heng]

Land (you'll be limited by your budget... but it's only a matter of time, even in the middle of nowhere). You have to have an eye/sense for it. And you'll need to get citizenship first (which for expats, typically will be easier for East and South Asians.... Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Pakistanis, etc.).

[Ijustwannateach]

Oh, I don't know, Heng- I think Europeans would do just fine if they had the support of a large group of local naturalised citizens helping them out. On the other hand, how many Chinese immigrate on their own without any reliance on others these days?

[gwkenny]

1 million baht is something, but in the big scheme of things, as folks said, it ain't much.

If you can stomach the ups and downs of a small stock market, you could put it into a "blue chip" type of Thai stock. The gamble will in all likelyhood pay off, and pay off well. Unfortunately it's all about timing. And usually something personal comes up and you need the money right when it hurts the most to take it out!!! Additionally, the market is in doldrums and lots of stuff is on hold till things are clearer after the election (which, at this point, I don't think it will get much clearer if nothing significantly changes).

I also feel that there is a huge danger on the horizon with government off-balance sheet borrowing. Or in this case lending. Pressure is ratcheting up. Are there more NPL's that just aren't accounted for? Will we get more announcements of significant NPL increases like one we've recently had? Come on, do you really believe that the million baht village fund has extremely low default/NPL rates?

Fun fun!

Alternatively, you could fund small projects which actually would give you a decent return. But given the fact that you asked on an anonymous board, I'm assuming you have absolutely no good contacts to this end.

If you did, you could... buy a taxi and rent it out though that would take up almost all of your capital in only one investment vehicle. You could stake a couple of shops in JJ or MBK. Some food carts, etc... But your contacts have to be pretty good else you'll get ripped off in a jiffy.

g-

[MartinBKK]

think_to_mut half a million baht is almost USD 13500 per month and while there will certainly be some expats earning more than this i would suggest that most reasonable expats earn less.

[Crash999]

Geez... some folks must be rolling in it here. 1m baht is chump change? I ought to follow behind you guys so when it falls out your pockets I can be there to pick it up.

There are a lot of options- your return will depend on what you make of it. 1m baht will buy you a new condo at the development in RCA- which returns about 8%/yr in rental income. Can get you a small retail shop which of course needs active management. Can provide more than enough working capital for an internet venture. Can be your first two container-loads of goods exported to your home country for resale. Etc etc etc. Opportunities abound here.

Edited September 10, 2006 by Crash999

[Heng]

Oh, I don't know, Heng- I think Europeans would do just fine if they had the support of a large group of local naturalised citizens helping them out.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

[Scottbiker1976]

1. Many big companies start from almost nothing

2. 1 Million baht is still al lot of money in Thailand, no matter what some people say here, just stay out of the big cities and you'll be fine

3. Go to a quite place for a few days and think about oppertunities

4. Don't believe all those people that say "i make more then +500.000 /month", they are rare believe me........people talk a lot.

5. Believe in yourself

6. Good luck...)

[steveromagnino]

1 million baht is something, but in the big scheme of things, as folks said, it ain't much.

If you can stomach the ups and downs of a small stock market, you could put it into a "blue chip" type of Thai stock. The gamble will in all likelyhood pay off, and pay off well. Unfortunately it's all about timing. And usually something personal comes up and you need the money right when it hurts the most to take it out!!! Additionally, the market is in doldrums and lots of stuff is on hold till things are clearer after the election (which, at this point, I don't think it will get much clearer if nothing significantly changes).

I also feel that there is a huge danger on the horizon with government off-balance sheet borrowing. Or in this case lending. Pressure is ratcheting up. Are there more NPL's that just aren't accounted for? Will we get more announcements of significant NPL increases like one we've recently had? Come on, do you really believe that the million baht village fund has extremely low default/NPL rates?

Fun fun!

Yep, I agree share market is the way to go; look for companies doing business outside Thailand that aren't prone to the swings of the local economy OR look for strong companies within Thailand, the blue chips.

Look for companies with a record of decent reporting, and you'll find there are stocks that trade at lower P/Es than other markets. Some carry Div yields in the double digits.

Active investment? Well then you need to be here, and need to know your way around the market (same as doing business anywhere) and you need to be aware that Thai business people aren't nearly the chumps they are made out to be on boards like this. Therefore, it won't be an easy road to hoe. And 1m is not enough to start anything of worth unless you have some sort of specialist knowledge.

[~G~]

Makes me wonder whether just having a particular skill set would change the choice much, but lets see what people have to say.

Of course. Can you do something of value yourself or do you need to hire expensive experts? Bill Gates didn't start by hiring a bunch of PHDs. He started by doing the work himself. Donald Trump's father got into real estate by using his two hands to build houses. Do you have any kind of specilaized knowledge? Are you a professional in any field, or at least, have some good experience doing anything? Do you have good contacts that can help you start?:-)

Nothing? just supplying the cash? Well... to buy a condo and rent it... I think you can get better returns for your money in a conservative and diversified investment portfolio (conservative in this sense does not include Thailand). To just purchase a business, sit back and count the money flowing in, starting with 1M baht budget? keep dreaming.

Try to think what you can contribute to the market, what is your added value to your customers. As Bill Heineke says, "Find a Gap and Fill It".

Nothing of that kind? Don't start a business.

[cwilliam]

Land (you'll be limited by your budget... but it's only a matter of time, even in the middle of nowhere). You have to have an eye/sense for it. And you'll need to get citizenship first (which for expats, typically will be easier for East and South Asians.... Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Pakistanis, etc.).

Invest in a go go dancer

[BattyBatty]

One million baht is 2 months salary for a reasonable ferang?

Sure... For the reasonable ferangs that are selling drugs in PTY. There are some high rollers living it up in LOS, however (English teachers aside) I would suggest the average ferang on an ex pat package earns around 200k per month?

[Nawtilus]

I got something you can put 1mil into.

[Unknown]

Lets say the investor would be an expat, and the owner/manager of the business.

Well, first, how are you going to do that?

[Khun Jean]

Maybe i am the only one thinking this way but for me investing means, putting money in something that don't need you to be an active worker to make a return. That is what i call buying yourself a job.

Managers of many small businesses come to mind.

For investing in Thailand, without day to day decisions and work there are not too many options with 1 Mb.

[richard10365]

Here is a strange business idea I got from a school where "my friend" teaches English.

The school has various cafeterias on campus. One is located between the lower matayom and upper pratom buildings. "My friend" teaches next to the upper pratom.

I had breakfast the other day in that cafeteria and started chatting with the man who sells drinks. An 8 ounce glass of any of his fruit drinks cost 5 baht each.

There are around 1500 students in grades 4, 5, and 6. There are about 500 lower matayom students eating in that cafeteria.

I asked him how many glasses he sells during the day. He said 3000. Thats 15,000 baht/day, 75,000 baht/week, 300,000 baht/month, or 3,600,000 baht/year depending on how u want to look at it.

His operating expenses are 3000/day for the juice and 1000/month to rent the space in the cefeteria.

Point is, whatever you invest in, make sure there is a market for it. Supply and demand. If the price is right, the demand will be high. Also, make sure there are pleanty of people around to buy your product.

[Heng]

For Chatuchak suggestion... 20 year leases in the new Chatuchak Mall are starting at 1.5 million each. And forget about getting anything like that in the current outdoor Chatuchak in that price range.

[Khun Jean]

asked him how many glasses he sells during the day. He said 3000. Thats 15,000 baht/day, 75,000 baht/week, 300,000 baht/month, or 3,600,000 baht/year depending on how u want to look at it.

His operating expenses are 3000/day for the juice and 1000/month to rent the space in the cefeteria.

Very inaccurate calculation.

The 3000 also has to be questioned. If selling 1 glass takes 15 seconds. For just exchanging money, he will need a little over 12 hours of continuous trade to do that.

Correct that for reality and he is able to sell around 800 glasses. The time the students are in class are obvious quiet, so it is only when they are arriving at school, having free time and when leaving.

Of the 5 baht per glass he makes around 1-2 baht profit. Don't forget the ice, the glass, the straw, the fruit etc..

That would make a total turnover of maximum 1600 baht a day. Around 48.000 baht a month.

48.000 a month minus the cost of rent/electricity/30-50% commision to the owner of the place he rents. That will leave him with around 15.000 baht.

You also forget about the keymoney that probably has to be paid. Some large figure that is left out of the equation.

At the end, he has just enough to feed his family.