As far as I know there's nothing to stop a Thai person opening an account with interactive brokers. There are quite a few people based in Thailand that use them. I don't myself.

Transferring money to an account would be pretty much the same as anyone else opening and transferring money into an IB account. The only difference would be the requirements of a bank or other financial intermediary that would be doing the transfer to IB. eg different paperwork/ online procedures for transferring from say a Thai bank to IB compared to say a UK bank to IB. That depends on the transferring requirements though not IB as receiver

Their website lists Thailand as an available country

www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=7021

My wife is a joint account holder with me on a securities trading account with Stan Chart Sing1pore. Allows trading on a dozen or so stock exchanges worldwide for shares, ETFs, ITs etc. We can also buy mutual funds/ unit trusts thru their WM arm. My wife would be able to open in her name only. Just joint accounts better suit our needs, tax etc.

As AyG mentions there are various brokers in Thailand that offer access to world markets. Dealing costs a bit more than if done thru other locations. But in return you avoid various admin, overseas transfer costs etc, as you're dealing with a Thai entity.

fk,

Not sure why you have trust issues with Thai companies. Is it just that you havem't been here so long and not familiar with them yet?

I've been dealing with various banks, brokers, asset management firms for about 20 years. While I had reservations at first, I don't have many at all with the ones I use now, and have established some decent relationships. You hear a lot about don't invest in Thailand blah blah blah, particularly at first and from so called "experts". For me I listened, but dipped my toes in anyway. As I gained confidence and experience, things are fine.

On bringing money in and tax. Thai authorities don't seem particularly interested in individuals on this. I don't know anyone who's been captured by it, though they may exist. The focus is more on companies by tax authorities than individuals. Also transfers from capital aren't captured by the tax rules either.

Thais can open bank accounts outside Thailand (almost like) anyone else. There are a few restrictions on how much they can officially move/ invest outside Thailand but we're generally talking millions of USD here, not most people's day to day accounts.

As mentioned my (Thai) wife has joint accounts with me. No problem. If she wanted another account in Singapore for anyone reason, it would be no problem. Just speak to our relationship manager and ask them to scan the docs over which she would sign, scan and send back. Very easy as an existing account holder. Probably more work for a completely new account, but should be OK.

It would depend on who you open an account with, what status you have, how much etc, whether you would need to visit in person first time to open an account.

GavinK on here recently opened some banks accounts in Singapore. I don't think he actually needed to visit Singapore, but you could check with him.

Head to Aberdeen Asset Mgt and UOB, right next to each other on Silom Rd.

I am in a similair position, I need to keep it simple, keep it to something my mrs can understand.

Thanks again Fletchsmile.

For the bond funds on TMB, have you by any chance looked into those as to the difference between these 3?
• TMB Thanaplus Fund
• TMB Bond Fund
• TMB Aggregate Bond Fund

First says duration of 0.78 years, which is incredibly short duration, so I wonder how that compares to the "ultra short" duration bonds. Ok just checked and it says 0.41 years. Not sure how that is materially different.
0.45 ER

Second says 2.74 years.
credit ratings are quite a lot lower and I'm not even sure how the credit ratings for the first one compare to something like an all-market bond index like BND in the US.
0.6 ER

Third duration of 1.69 years.
Credit rating looks closer to the first than the second
0.54 ER

I suppose in a low inflation environment such as this, combined with the instability of being an emerging market (that is under a coup, and is now a dictatorship as of the 2016 "referendum"), maybe shorter bond duration makes more sense.

Wondering if you or anyone else has thoughts on fixed interest investments over here.

Cheers

I don't believe that being an emerging market is particularly relevant here, and the low inflation environment is only very indirectly related.  What is key is that interest rates are currently very low and pretty much the only way they can go is up, which will lead to a fall in the capital value of bonds.  I think it would be foolish for anyone to invest in conventional bond funds under current market conditions.

However, the shorter the duration, the less will be the loss of capital value.  So, short duration bond funds could (in my opinion) have a role as a parking place for money whilst waiting to invest elsewhere as a slightly higher yielding alternative to staying in cash.

More generally on bonds, my attitude has been shaped by the writings of Swensen, who manages Yale University's endowment.  He points out that the upside for bonds is limited - for example, if you hold a 3% coupon bond issued at par to maturity you can only ever get 3%/year.  For equities the upside is much higher.  The endowment (and I) only hold a tiny proportion of our respective portfolios in conventional bonds.

The only kind of bond that I think can have a role is inflation linked bonds such as US TIPS.  They provide protection at times of rising inflation.  However, Thailand has only ever issued (from memory) three such bonds.