Investments in Thailand

[William C F Pierce]

If investing in Thai Stocks is it possible to have all dividends re-invested with the same  stock. If so, how does it apply to your Tax position in Thailand.

Sensible informative answers please not sarcasm. 

[Boiled Frog]

The 10% tax on dividends is a witholding tax.  And so if you have elected to re-invest all of your distribution then you would receive shares to the value of 90% of your total dividend.

 

If the dividend is paid to you first, it will be deposited into your nominated account (less the 10% witholding tax).

 

If you are new to trading the SET make sure you educate yourself properly as the market, and its characteristics, are quite different from western markets.

 

If buying shares online, take care to select the NVDR option otherwise you will not receive any dividends.

 

Here is a link to a detailed article on this topic:

 

What are NVDR, (F) shares, and (L) shares

 

If you are starting out in the Thai Market, be aware that in addition to investing in individual stocks you can also easily diversify your portfolion by investing in Thai ETFs.  The (1DIV) high dividend yield ETF (listed by Kasikorn Bank) is one that you might find interesting.

 

Here is a link to a detailed guide on Thai ETFs:

 

A Guide to Exchange Traded Funds in Thailand

 

And finally if you do go with investment via individual Thai securities, make sure you take care to protect your capital using a trailing stop:

 

How to Use Trailing Stops in Thailand

 

Send me a personal message if you require any further information.

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2017 by Boiled Frog

[William C F Pierce]

Many thanks, the links are most helpful. Just one question can stocks be bought and paid for at a Thai Bank.

 

[RBOP]

Same as what Boiled Frog said. Also you should claim dividends as income on your yearly tax return. You can get back all your tax withheld from interest and dividend if your under a certain income bracket (cant remember what is is). Capital gains from selling stocks are not taxed. Enjoy the stock market, good time to get in.

[Oxx]

14 hours ago, William C F Pierce said:

Many thanks, the links are most helpful. Just one question can stocks be bought and paid for at a Thai Bank.

 

 

To the best of my knowledge, no.  You need to go via a stockbroker.  Only funds (usually only those managed by the bank's asset management arm) can be purchased at a bank here.

[khunPer]

14 hours ago, William C F Pierce said:

Many thanks, the links are most helpful. Just one question can stocks be bought and paid for at a Thai Bank.

 

You can easily open an online SET trading platform via a Thai Bank, also as foreigner; whilst to my knowledge you cannot buy SET-stocks in a bank, only their so-called Fund Books, which are mutual funds.

 

I'm familiar with and using SCB on-line, which works extremely well, and is easy – just remember NVDR-option, which can be set as default – it requires a corresponding SCB savings account with ATM for SIPS (Secure Internet Payment Service, believe it's automatic set-up now when applying for SCB on-line), and a minimum opening balance of 30,000 baht. You can move funds between your SCB savings account and your SET trading account on-line.

 

SCB is just an example, not a recommendation. Other Thai banks have similar platforms, so check with the bank you normally use.

[JacChang]

Recommended brokers are Phatra, MBKET, KGI, etc.

Each platform performance is different, some faster some slower. Phatra so far for me is the fastest with no lags or delays. Bualuang gives me points for trading which I could use to redeem coupons or gifts. So each has it's perks.

 

Each of these brokers, you can link automatic transfer system from your bank account to their broker accounts. Usually transfers in a few hours once you give them the directions online. They will deduct the funds from your bank account and instantly give you purchasing power on your stock broking account where you can trade online.

 

I would recommend staying away from the mutual funds if you are seriously interested in investing. Do your own research and buy your own. Settrade website offers a ton of information and financial charts in English. Total trading fees are roughly about 0.17% and dividends 10%. Some infrastructure funds such as BTSGIF still has the tax waiver on their dividends, so no tax there. It's only for 20 or 30 years. A lot of delicious property/infrastructure funds right now paying 5-7% dividends.

[Destiny1990]

34 minutes ago, JacChang said:

Recommended brokers are Phatra, MBKET, KGI, etc.

Each platform performance is different, some faster some slower. Phatra so far for me is the fastest with no lags or delays. Bualuang gives me points for trading which I could use to redeem coupons or gifts. So each has it's perks.

 

Each of these brokers, you can link automatic transfer system from your bank account to their broker accounts. Usually transfers in a few hours once you give them the directions online. They will deduct the funds from your bank account and instantly give you purchasing power on your stock broking account where you can trade online.

 

I would recommend staying away from the mutual funds if you are seriously interested in investing. Do your own research and buy your own. Settrade website offers a ton of information and financial charts in English. Total trading fees are roughly about 0.17% and dividends 10%. Some infrastructure funds such as BTSGIF still has the tax waiver on their dividends, so no tax there. It's only for 20 or 30 years. A lot of delicious property/infrastructure funds right now paying 5-7% dividends.

Could u give a couple of examples of some good performing thai property infrastructure funds with atleast a track record of some years?

[kblaze]

18 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Could u give a couple of examples of some good performing thai property infrastructure funds with atleast a track record of some years?

LHHOTEL, IMPACT. 

 

not property per se, but JASIF

[William C F Pierce]

Thanks to all you guy your comments and advice are most helpful. I expect to live up to another 25 years in moving to Thailand and my UK pension frozen at the level of when I leave the UK. The use of investments to maintain a decent level of income will be important. 

[fatdrunkandstupid]

On 6/4/2017 at 9:11 PM, Destiny1990 said:

Could u give a couple of examples of some good performing thai property infrastructure funds with atleast a track record of some years?

SIRI is an individual property stock that has a long established presence and a reliable history of > 6% dividends.

 

It is discussed in some detail in the following article:

 

Trade Thai Shares not American Stocks

 

It is currently trading at 2.08 THB and has a broker price forecast, as of this morning, of 2.30 THB.

 

 

[kblaze]

1 hour ago, fatdrunkandstupid said:

SIRI is an individual property stock that has a long established presence and a reliable history of > 6% dividends.

 

It is discussed in some detail in the following article:

 

Trade Thai Shares not American Stocks

 

It is currently trading at 2.08 THB and has a broker price forecast, as of this morning, of 2.30 THB.

 

 

SIRI also is the riskiest as they have been the most aggressive with launches last year and this year

[Oxx]

3 hours ago, fatdrunkandstupid said:

Trade Thai Shares not American Stocks

 

Did you post a link to that highly misleading article before? (Someone did.)  (Perhaps you're part of the scam?)

 

The full title of the article is "Trade Thai Shares Not American Penny Stocks".  That is vastly different from regular American stocks, and the article is aimed at those deluded or desperate fools interested in highly speculative investments.

 

It's also written by a source that is highly interested in hyping Thai shares with little rhyme or reason.   (Note the website name, "thaishares.com".)

 

In other words, it's a source of highly dubious information.

 

[fatdrunkandstupid]

25 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

Did you post a link to that highly misleading article before? (Someone did.)  (Perhaps you're part of the scam?)

 

The full title of the article is "Trade Thai Shares Not American Penny Stocks".  That is vastly different from regular American stocks, and the article is aimed at those deluded or desperate fools interested in highly speculative investments.

 

It's also written by a source that is highly interested in hyping Thai shares with little rhyme or reason.   (Note the website name, "thaishares.com".)

 

In other words, it's a source of highly dubious information.

 

Oh please.  Get a grip.  The site has articles written in plain English with no product sales, or advertising, or affiliate links whatsoever.

 

If the links have been posted here before it is because the site provides useful information.  I note it has over 7,500 followers on Twitter.  

 

How many followers do you have?

 

 

Edited June 6, 2017 by fatdrunkandstupid

[fatdrunkandstupid]

2 hours ago, kblaze said:

SIRI also is the riskiest as they have been the most aggressive with launches last year and this year

I don't hold SIRI.

 

But as I noted in my post above, BLS, this morning flagged SIRI as a buy with a target price of 2.30 THB.

 

In my humble opinion, the OP, given that he is a new arrival, would do better to stick with Thai ETFs (as suggested by Boiled Frog) rather than trying to pick individual stocks.

[bazza73]

On 6/6/2017 at 5:25 PM, fatdrunkandstupid said:

I don't hold SIRI.

 

But as I noted in my post above, BLS, this morning flagged SIRI as a buy with a target price of 2.30 THB.

 

In my humble opinion, the OP, given that he is a new arrival, would do better to stick with Thai ETFs (as suggested by Boiled Frog) rather than trying to pick individual stocks.

This thread is somewhat bewildering IMHO.

The OP and others on this thread have stockmarkets in their home countries. There are businesses back there that they probably know well. That are buttressed by a legal system, have good cashflow and pay good dividends.

Why would anyone want to put money into businesses they don't understand, producing their annual reports in a language they can't comprehend, in a country that is close to the top in its rating for corruption? That's not investment - it's gambling, pure and simple.

[bazza73]

On 6/6/2017 at 5:17 PM, fatdrunkandstupid said:

Oh please.  Get a grip.  The site has articles written in plain English with no product sales, or advertising, or affiliate links whatsoever.

 

If the links have been posted here before it is because the site provides useful information.  I note it has over 7,500 followers on Twitter.  

 

How many followers do you have?

 

 

What? You are rating the usefulness of information on the basis of followers on Twitter? On that basis, we can believe everything Trump posts there. Yeah right.

[Oxx]

11 hours ago, bazza73 said:

a country that is close to the top in its rating for corruption?

 

Except it isn't.  Transparency International ranks it #101 out of 176 countries.  In other words, it's middle ranking.  Far less corrupt than the likes of Mexico and Russia.

 

 

[bazza73]

30 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

Except it isn't.  Transparency International ranks it #101 out of 176 countries.  In other words, it's middle ranking.  Far less corrupt than the likes of Mexico and Russia.

 

 

I stand corrected, or maybe I don't. it depends on how much faith is put in the assessment methods used by Transparency International.

Getting off topic, it could be like ratings of golf courses in most countries. It depends on who you ask. Some of the "official" rankings are pure BS, because those ranking are subject to outside influences. Not what you know, but who you know.

[Orac]

I stand corrected, or maybe I don't. it depends on how much faith is put in the assessment methods used by Transparency International.
Getting off topic, it could be like ratings of golf courses in most countries. It depends on who you ask. Some of the "official" rankings are pure BS, because those ranking are subject to outside influences. Not what you know, but who you know.

Also need to pull you up on your claim about annual reports being in a foreign language - SET rules require announcements to be in Thai and English.

"Information disclosure is required to be accurate, adequate, and timely to ensure transparency and fairness to all stakeholders. Information must be transmitted in both Thai and English via fax and online through the SET Information Disclosure System.
If company information is disclosed during a trading session, the bourse is empowered to temporarily suspend trading of the company’s stock by posting H (trading halt) or SP (suspension) on its securities until such information is released fully and thoroughly."

https://www.set.or.th/en/regulations/supervision/listed_disclosure_p5.html

[bazza73]

1 hour ago, Orac said:

 

Also need to pull you up on your claim about annual reports being in a foreign language - SET rules require announcements to be in Thai and English.

"Information disclosure is required to be accurate, adequate, and timely to ensure transparency and fairness to all stakeholders. Information must be transmitted in both Thai and English via fax and online through the SET Information Disclosure System.
If company information is disclosed during a trading session, the bourse is empowered to temporarily suspend trading of the company’s stock by posting H (trading halt) or SP (suspension) on its securities until such information is released fully and thoroughly."

https://www.set.or.th/en/regulations/supervision/listed_disclosure_p5.html

 

Yes, you're right. Does not persuade me investing in Thai companies is a good idea. I'll stick to Australian shares.

[JacChang]

On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 10:11 PM, Destiny1990 said:

Could u give a couple of examples of some good performing thai property infrastructure funds with atleast a track record of some years?

There's only currently 4 thai property/infrastructure funds I consider good at the moment out of the 50 I am monitoring.

BTSGIF 6-7% growth in dividend per year, currently paying 6.9%.

FUTUREPF 3-7% growth, paying 6%.

CPNCG 9% growth, paying 6.4%.

QHPF 5% growth, 6.6%.

The rest are just horrible or with negative growths. The overall trend with most of these are in negative territory so the above may follow as well, be sure to keep a lookout on the monthly reported NAVs. If the monthly reported NAVs show a decrease in growth, prepare for an exit.

Now is not the time to buy yet even though all 4 are at low price points, they may look attractive but never pick up a falling knife. As far as I know, many brokers are recommending to sell property/infrastructure funds and large mutual funds are actually selling them as recommended. So let the big trucks dump their shares, once they are done, we little ants can start enjoying the freebies. I have noticed Land and House Bank is taking advantage of this by actually increasing shareholding while the mutual funds are dumping.

BTSGIF was able to have growth for this year was mainly due to a reduction in costs of operation, not because of price hike or ridership increase. This is very important to be aware of. Unless the ticket price increases or ridership increases, I would not touch BTSGIF yet.

FUTUREPF and CPNCG are shopping malls and office rentals such as futurepark and central world plaza. Keep note of the occupancy rate and rental hikes.

[JacChang]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 4:42 PM, kblaze said:

LHHOTEL, IMPACT. 

 

not property per se, but JASIF

Kblaze, Good morning. I have held LHHOTEL in the past but this year's Q1 10.95% versus last year's Q1 10.84%, 1% growth seems very risky to me considering we need to be above inflation. JASIF will currently no longer enjoy the 10% growth it did in the previous months, all of the remaining optic cables have been transferred to JASIF. With the data that I have at hand, APR17 9.29%, MAR17 9.66%, FEB17 9.61%. Unless inflation increases allowing JASIF to apply for price hike, we are looking at negative growth at the moment.

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 6:25 PM, fatdrunkandstupid said:

I don't hold SIRI.

 

But as I noted in my post above, BLS, this morning flagged SIRI as a buy with a target price of 2.30 THB.

 

In my humble opinion, the OP, given that he is a new arrival, would do better to stick with Thai ETFs (as suggested by Boiled Frog) rather than trying to pick individual stocks.

SIRI has declining revenue and net profit since 2015. Brokers recommendations are because they work for the companies involved without care for the little individual investors. When a company requires their stock to be raised, they "hire" brokers to "advertise/promote" for them. Most of the time I find that companies doing horribly always require broker recommendations. And it actually works =)

SIRI has gained 10% from 2.02 to 2.2 in just less than 2 weeks time. 2.27 seems likely at this stage and achievable in 3-5 days. BUT, what happens after that, are those "important/powerful people" selling their shares and achieving their intent.

On ‎6‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 1:04 PM, bazza73 said:

Yes, you're right. Does not persuade me investing in Thai companies is a good idea. I'll stick to Australian shares.

It's your own free choice. Good things in life don't require pressuring someone into buying. If Australian shares work for you, that's great. Just missing out on other options. I for one won't discriminate an entire country, I discriminate lousy shares. Every country has them. Been investing globally in every country I see for years. Same with ladies, can't just ban all Thai girls because you feel a certain way towards them. Take the time to know each one, ignore the ones who are bad, and keep the ones who are good.

[Oxx]

3 hours ago, JacChang said:

Brokers recommendations are because they work for the companies involved without care for the little individual investors. When a company requires their stock to be raised, they "hire" brokers to "advertise/promote" for them.

 

Do you have any actual evidence of this (probably libellous) assertion?

[JacChang]

On ‎6‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 2:27 PM, Oxx said:

 

Do you have any actual evidence of this (probably libellous) assertion?

It's actually not a secret. The original business scope of brokers is to serve companies in providing them with services to increase their capital and their shareholding services. This is their main business, not our little individual investors. You are more than welcomed to visit any brokerage website and these infos will be provided or sent them an email. Any company regardless if their books are financially sound or not, will use the service of the brokers to promote their shares available either to the institutions, mutual fund managers, private placement, or available to the public.

Ever seen companies doing horribly? Even with broker recommendations report that shows declining eps estimates for the 3 years ahead, yet raising PO and "Strong Buy"? =D

This is the real world. Make some friends who works in the inside, they'll tell you, no secret.

The same applies to mutual funds being recommended at the banks. The mutual fund managers of the specific mutual funds, is in urgent need of funds. The bank managers then tell the lower level sales staff to promote these funds and tell customers why they must buy this fund and why it's so good. Same same, but different. =D