How to start investing/trading on the Thai Stockexchange for complete newb.

[DLang]

I'm currently putting 40k baht per month into my BAY Mee Tae Dai account.

 

It's not throw away money and will be using it in around 5-7 years.

 

However the interest rate has gone from 3.x% paid monthly when I opened it, to 1.x% now.

 

 

I have never invested in stocks or anything besides a bit of Thai gold at the shops a few years ago. 

 

I wouldn't mind doing 30k bank, and put 10k p/m into different stocks or investments etc. to learn about it bit by bit.

 

However I have absolutely no clue how to.

 

So, how do I, from the very start? What's the first step? Who with, and how do I register?? 

 

Thanks very much. 

 

[DLang]

For example, is there an online interface where I can sign in, transfer money from my account, place it on different stocks, and if wanting - buy more, sell, move it to other stocks, withdraw to my bank account etc?

 

Thanks. 

[impulse]

There's been enough interest in the topic over the years that I can't imagine some entrepreneurial type couldn't make a few bucks offering workshops on the mechanics of online investing from LOS.  

 

And a public service to keep expats out of the clutches of the boiler room gangs who are happy to help expedite investments...

[midas]

22 minutes ago, impulse said:

There's been enough interest in the topic over the years that I can't imagine some entrepreneurial type couldn't make a few bucks offering workshops on the mechanics of online investing from LOS.  

 

And a public service to keep expats out of the clutches of the boiler room gangs who are happy to help expedite investments...

There was-don't you remember (or maybe still is) the infamous Walen School of investing

[impulse]

21 minutes ago, midas said:

There was-don't you remember (or maybe still is) the infamous Walen School of investing

 

I was thinking more along the lines of someone setting up a few computers in an extra bedroom and having a few folks over a couple of times a week for one on one sessions.

 

I'd ditto that for anyone who could run sessions on home network security, or selling online, or playing bridge, or dancing, or oil changes, or any number of expat-centric topics.

 

Taking the idea even further, I miss the back home concept of Free-U, where people sign up for all kinds of cheap classes, taught by locals who take a share of the fees in return for passing on some of their expertise.  Some of the instructors achieve quite a following, while others bite the dust after their first hour- in spite of passing an audition class...

 

In Thailand, I'd probably be the guy teaching people to build their own fishing rod.  Not that I'd expect a huge following or to make any $$$.  More of an opportunity to interact with expats who have similar interests.

 

And I'd be one of the first guys signing up to pay someone money to teach me Arduino.

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by impulse

[scorecard]

Step 1:

 

Make a big sign and put it on the wall above your desk:

 

'Insider trading and other actions which break the SET

              and SEC regulations are rampant.'

[DLang]

https://www.set.or.th/set/mainpage.do?language=en&country=US

 

Okay, so how do I sign up and lose my money?

[tonray]

54 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I was thinking more along the lines of someone setting up a few computers in an extra bedroom and having a few folks over a couple of times a week for one on one sessions.

 

I'd ditto that for anyone who could run sessions on home network security, or selling online, or playing bridge, or dancing, or oil changes, or any number of expat-centric topics.

 

Taking the idea even further, I miss the back home concept of Free-U, where people sign up for all kinds of cheap classes, taught by locals who take a share of the fees in return for passing on some of their expertise.  Some of the instructors achieve quite a following, while others bite the dust after their first hour- in spite of passing an audition class...

 

In Thailand, I'd probably be the guy teaching people to build their own fishing rod.  Not that I'd expect a huge following or to make any $$$.  More of an opportunity to interact with expats who have similar interests.

 

And I'd be one of the first guys signing up to pay someone money to teach me Arduino.

 

https://www.meetup.com/find/career-business/

 

Many such classes / groups

[tpkhk]

- You may want to have a look at https://thaistocks.com.  There are enough free resources there, without signing up for a paid subscription.  The owner of the site (Swiss), also posts his annualized returns and has been at it for 20+ years.  You could follow his research/company reports and pick your own scrips from there.

 

- Kasikorn, Bangkok Bank all have affiliated security arms - ie. to actually open a brokerage account.  It takes them a couple of weeks from application to giving you a log-in ID etc.  Vastly simplified if you have a bank account & open a bank affiliated stock trading account.

 

- Lastly, at least in Phuket, I know of a Thai person (bi-lingual) that hosts classes teaching technical trading (ie. following charts) vs. say trading based on value/fundamental financial analysis.  Classes are held one on one/small group in a conference space.  There may be similar operators in Bangkok.  You may also want to consider checking Meetup - they likely have a group of people interested in discussing/investing in Thai stocks.

 

Good luck.

[DLang]

^ Great, thanks very much. 

[nahkit]

2 hours ago, DLang said:

For example, is there an online interface where I can sign in, transfer money from my account, place it on different stocks, and if wanting - buy more, sell, move it to other stocks, withdraw to my bank account etc?

 

Thanks. 

Bualuang Securities allow online trading and you can transfer money in very easily, I signed up with them at Bangkok Bank.

 

One word of warning though - at the time of sign-up I asked if there were any restrictions on a foreigner trading shares and was told no (this was a Bangkok Bank person that said this, not Bualuang).

 

A few months later I got a phone call from Bualuang saying that I wasn't entitled to receive some dividends that were due because I had bought my shares in the Thai market but should have bought them via the Foreign market.  

[DLang]

Great, thanks. 

[scubascuba3]

I would stick to big companies that offer this service. Such as Kasikorn. No idea how good their service / portal is but at least you won't have to worry about a boiler room scam. I think people can be easily scammed in Thailand.

 

 

Personally i do all my investing via UK, so if i wanted to invest in Thailand I'd pick a Thai unit trust or OEIC via Interactive Investor

[12DrinkMore]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

Step 1:

 

Make a big sign and put it on the wall above your desk:

 

'Insider trading and other actions which break the SET

              and SEC regulations are rampant.'

 

Step 2: Most Thai companies only issue financial statements in Thai, good luck analysing them.

 

Step 3. Foreigners are only allowed to buy certain limited share classes.

 

Step 4. BBL was utterly incompetent when I opened a trading account. Maybe you will get on better.....

 

Step 5. The BBL trading platform is horrible.

 

Step 6. Read step 1 again.

 

Step 7. You admit to having no clue. Before spending 1 Baht,  read Warren Buffet, watch him on YouTube, also his partner in crime, Charlie Munger, there you will find references to other great books on investing.

 

Step 8. Do not go into the market expecting to trade regularly and make profit. The market is a cruel and hard place, full of sharks waiting to take all your capital away.

 

Step 9. Run a trial spreadsheet portfolio for six months or twelve months, it is not as exciting as real money, but it will save you a lot.

 

Step 10. Unless you have a desire to spend hours on this every day, it basically becomes a job, buy into a low cost index fund and simply add to it each month.

 

I decided not to trade in Thailand due to 1, 2, 3 and 4 above.

 

[Oxx]

If you need your money in 5 years, investing in stocks may not be the way to go since there's a possibility you'll actually lose money over the period.  10 years is a more reasonable period for equity investment.

 

However, if this is the route you want to go down, rather than buy individual stocks, buy fund(s).  With funds:

 

- You get instant diversification.  I.e. you're not exposed to a small number of companies, and if one company goes under, or performs very poorly, it's not going to affect your overall return that much.

- You get expert management of your investments (assuming you go for an actively managed fund, rather than an index tracker).

- You don't need to spend a lot of time analysing individual companies, and monitoring them after you've bought them.

 

Since you're already with Krung Sri, I'd suggest you open an account with Krung Sri Asset Management.  You can do this at any (I believe) branch of the bank.

 

The list of available funds is at https://www.krungsriasset.com/en/Mutual-Funds.html

 

Incidentally, if you're a Thai tax payer then, given your timescale, LTFs may be of interest.  They come with significant tax advantages.

[3421abc]

SET is flat in the past 5 years. I rather open a fixed deposit account at a bank in Cambodia like ABA or Canadia (both banks are partially Canadian owned) ABA I think is majority Canadian owned.

You can get about 7% a year on a USD account or 8% in local currency.

Any foreigner can open an account with a tourist visa AND GET THIS..... YOU CAN WIRE FUNDS OUT WITHOUT THE CRAP THEY GIVE YOU HERE.

[bazza73]

IMHO there is only one reasonably risk-free form of investing in Thailand - buy gold. Although strictly speaking it's not an investment, rather a hedge against inflation and paper currency.

I'd suggest the OP check out what's available in his country of origin by way of property, fixed interest and peer-to-peer lending. If he is young, property is the way to go.

Rule 1 of investing is never invest in something you don't understand. The SET would be beyond the comprehension of most falangs.

[Oxx]

11 minutes ago, 3421abc said:

SET is flat in the past 5 years. I rather open a fixed deposit account at a bank in Cambodia like ABA or Canadia (both banks are partially Canadian owned) ABA I think is majority Canadian owned.

You can get about 7% a year on a USD account or 8% in local currency.

 

SET is flat? Five years ago it was at 1237.  Now it's at 1573 - up 25%.  And that's ignoring dividend income.

 

If your ultimate expenditure will be in THB it's sheer lunacy to open a foreign currency account, even if the interest rates are alluring.  The chance of a large swing in the foreign exchange rate against is significantly high.  In the last 5 years the THB has varied between 28.7 and 36.4 to the USD - a range of 27%. 7% a year simply doesn't compensate for that sort of risk.

[Peterw42]

OP, I presume you are an expat, working and can send money home. Have you considered share market in your home country ? Your bank in home country can set you up in a couple of days, websites and apps for trading, its in your home language, you are familiar with some of the listed companies etc

[scubascuba3]

IMHO there is only one reasonably risk-free form of investing in Thailand - buy gold. Although strictly speaking it's not an investment, rather a hedge against inflation and paper currency.
I'd suggest the OP check out what's available in his country of origin by way of property, fixed interest and peer-to-peer lending. If he is young, property is the way to go.
Rule 1 of investing is never invest in something you don't understand. The SET would be beyond the comprehension of most falangs.

Who told you gold was risk free?

[peterpop]

I have been investing on the SET for the last five years.  I am an experienced investor with stock brokers in London, Amsterdam and Chiang Mai.  I am a long term investor who seeks out good companies in Thailand that are growing and whose shares should appreciate in time.  

I would be happy to advise you on setting up an account here but as I am based in Chiang Mai we would need to find a suitable way for you to learn.  I am not in the business of selling anything.  I am just an enthusiastic investor.  I make a steady income and so far have avoided loosing a lot of money.  Investing has risks and you should not play with money that you cannot afford to loose.

Please contact me directly if you are really interested 

[JayBird]

Any particular reason you wish to invest in the Thai stock market? You can deal with a US/UK/HK broker and trade US/European shares which may be easier (and find a lot more information on).

[DLang]

15 hours ago, bazza73 said:

IMHO there is only one reasonably risk-free form of investing in Thailand - buy gold. Although strictly speaking it's not an investment, rather a hedge against inflation and paper currency.

I invested in gold around 2009, it was around 17k baht at the time, I just happen to sell it at around 25k baht around 2-3 years later. Just got lucky with it. It took a big dip after that and looks like it hasn't really moved in the last 5 years. 

[DLang]

9 hours ago, JayBird said:

Any particular reason you wish to invest in the Thai stock market?

 

A bit of fun and its close to home. 

[DLang]

16 hours ago, 3421abc said:

I rather open a fixed deposit account at a bank in Cambodia like ABA or Canadia (both banks are partially Canadian owned) ABA I think is majority Canadian owned.

You can get about 7% a year on a USD account or 8% in local currency.

 

Interesting.

 

So open an account in Cambodia, exchange funds to Riel, and get 8% p/a? 

[bazza73]

18 minutes ago, DLang said:

I invested in gold around 2009, it was around 17k baht at the time, I just happen to sell it at around 25k baht around 2-3 years later. Just got lucky with it. It took a big dip after that and looks like it hasn't really moved in the last 5 years. 

I've done OK just buying in the 19K and selling in the 21K range over the last two years. I'm thinking it will take a jump when the game of musical chairs with currencies stops.

Have you noticed the Swiss franc goes up every time there is a world crisis?

[Oxx]

1 hour ago, DLang said:

Interesting.

 

So open an account in Cambodia, exchange funds to Riel, and get 8% p/a? 

 

Not so much "interesting" as "foolish".  The following chart shows why.

 

 

[Orac]

I use Maybank Kim Eng as a platform linked to my SCB bank account for transferring money.

Their online interface is excellent, particularly the mobile apps, plus they pay 1.2% interest on my cash balance.

Maybank provide a lot of information such earnings, strategy, daily market reviews and company research in English though there is far more in Thai if you can read it and they do appear to push certain stocks quite a bit which is common with all brokers here.

Another good source is Thaicapitalist.com who offers some good insight.

SET rules specify all reports are in both Thai and English now.

Shares are easy to purchase online once set up though you need to specify NVDR which are specifically for foreigners to get round ownership rules so you get dividends.

Like many Emerging Markets there is more risk here and with a lot of foreign money that could take flight quickly should either global or local situations change.

FYI, Maybank are currently advising holding 60% cash and avoid retail, construction and real estate plus there are questions over NPLs for banks.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[nahkit]

Bualuang provide reports in English also, they do daily ones on highlighted stocks and a weekly round-up showing their BUY/SELL/HOLD recommendations for the stocks they cover.

 

They also have a model portfolio which they update every few weeks and is currently up 7.2% YTD against the SET which is up 1.5% YTD.

[GarryP]

Just now, nahkit said:

Bualuang provide reports in English also, they do daily ones on highlighted stocks and a weekly round-up showing their BUY/SELL/HOLD recommendations for the stocks they cover.

 

They also have a model portfolio which they update every few weeks and is currently up 7.2% YTD against the SET which is up 1.5% YTD.

That is interesting.  I shall have to look into that.