is it possible to buy any Thai stocks from the U.S.? or thai indexes etc? Any info would be appreciated.. thanks~
TTF on NYSE plus some ADR's (go to Bank of New York website for info) Of the Thai brokers this is about the best tradeoff between service and platform http://www.phatradirect.com/phatra/index.jsp (used to be ML's partner) Charting from www.trade-vizion.com You can open a prepaid cash account with a Thai broker without a work permit.
You can buy thai stocks from the US. There is a Thai index fund run by a Thai bank but you can't invest in it unless you have a Thai work permit. I've put some information about investing in Thai stocks on this page.
Seamico would be a very good choice for someone located outside of Thailand and doing non platform intensive trading/investing. Flawless service (very rare amongst Thai brokers) and Expat friendly. Phillip https://www.poems.in.th/home.asp probably have the best "platform" for ST trading and most operations such as transfer of funds is automated. if you do get a situation where you need to email a human you are stiuffed as their service personnel are useless and will ignore it. If it is major one of the Directors is responsive if you bring thins to his attention.
Few points to consider, before investing in thai market ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Unless you are paying taxes in Thailand you cannot invest in a Thai owned mutual fund but there foreign owned funds that you can buy. -The timing of mutual funds is often poor. They are started up at the top of a boom and after the subsequent crash, get wound up. This is the opposite of what you should be doing. -Unless you are a Thai resident you cannot buy shares on margin (they don't want you to do a runner) very funny, what thais are thinking? -The market is driven by speculation, with fundamentals being largely ignored. This means that it is less efficient than the markets in the US or Europe and leaves room for the investor with a long term view to make good profits. -Thai companies are mainly Chinese, family owned, unlike the US where companies are predominantly owned by institutions and run by professional managers.
Yes. When you transfer funds you need to ensure that you are issued with a form stating that the funds came from overseas to ensure hassle free repatriation of your monster profits. As you are long term I would recommend Seamico as they routinely deal with these expat issues. Boom.HK.com is an alternative if you are long term. Commish is 2x what you would pay with Thai broker but they will accomodate GTC orders and 'if done then' which could be an advantage if you are in another time zone. Not for active trading though, limit orders only. There are a number of index funds offered by local mutual funds and SET 50 futures will begin trading this Friday, but frankly I would not buy the index at this juncture as there is a polarisation between a few large cap oil related stocks which are driving the index (PTT, PTTEP, TOP, SCC) and the real economy where many stocks are at cycle lows. This is EXACTLY the time to buy them. If you are in another time zone you need to buy them while they are still basing and ahead of the conventional chart breakout point as when they near this point the 'kha yai' (big hands) come in and sweep the book and take them up very fast. Disclosure: Boots already filled