AIMC pushes 3 measures to revive the Thai stock market and attract 1 trillion baht in new investment.
The Association of Investment Management Companies (AIMC) is proposing that the government include Thai ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) policies in the TISA application, increase the tax deduction limit to 1 million baht, and introduce LTR (Long-Term Retirement) Visas. They also suggest that the current Middle East conflict presents an opportune time to attract foreign investment into Thai stocks.
On March 27, 2026, Mr. Poj Harinsut, CEO of ONEAM (One Asset Management Co., Ltd.) and President of the Association of Investment Management Companies (AIMC), revealed that the association plans to promote sustainable growth in the Thai stock market through three key areas:
- Promoting the inclusion of the Thai ESG (Sustainable Governance) Equity Fund in the capital market development plan through the TISA program or personal savings and investment accounts.
- A proposal has been made to increase the tax deduction limit for the TISA program from 800,000 baht to 1 million baht.
- The government should impose conditions to allow long-term residents of Thailand (expats) to invest in the Thai capital market, including stocks and bonds. The current Middle East conflict is seen as an opportune time to attract capital inflow.
Mr. Poj said that if the measures can proceed as planned, they are expected to attract a significant amount of investment into the Thai capital market and significantly increase the proportion of institutional investors in the Thai stock market, which currently amounts to approximately 1 trillion baht invested in Thai stocks.
“AIMC views the Thai stock market as more attractive than US stocks in several aspects. Therefore, if the three measures are implemented, it is believed that they will help increase stability and create sustainable growth for the Thai capital market in the long term.”
Mr. Poj further stated that on April 1st, the association will hold discussions with the Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Following that, they will discuss the plan with the Federation of Thai Capital Market Businesses (FETCO) within April 2569. They will also discuss other plans and meet with the Minister of Finance in April-May to clarify the plan before the government announces its policy.
Mr. Poj said that a key approach is to increase the variety of investment options under the TISA program by adding the Thai ESG fund as another option. Investors in the TISA program can invest in the Thai ESG fund and deduct the money from their taxes up to 300,000 baht out of a total limit of 800,000 baht.
In the second scenario, if the government disagrees with the first approach of including Thai ESG in the TISA program, the association proposes adjusting the conditions of the Thai ESG fund to increase the proportion of investment in Thai equities. This would not require establishing a new fund, but rather by adding a new Share Class (ESG Share Class) to avoid confusion for investors. The goal is to boost the total value of ESG funds to 500,000 billion baht, similar to the long-term equity funds (LTF) of the past, with an estimated average inflow of 100,000 billion baht per year.
The proposal to adjust the tax benefits from approximately 800,000 baht to 1 million baht, in order to increase the incentive to invest in the TISA program to be similar to the previously popular LTF funds, is considered a way to incentivize investors to invest in the program.
The proposal aims to increase the value of the Thai stock market by encouraging long-term foreign investors in Thailand to invest. It highlights the potential of expats, particularly those from the Middle East, who number around 500,000 in Thailand. Attracting just 25,000 of them, with an average investment of 1 million baht per person, would significantly inject new capital into the market.
AIMC will propose adjusting the conditions for the Long-term Resident Visa (LTR Visa), which currently requires an investment of US$500,000 in bonds or real estate. The proposal is to allow mutual funds to be included as investment assets for visa applications, in order to facilitate the process and attract more investment into the Thai capital market.
Mr. Poj said that for the LTR Visa, the association has a concept to propose a model similar to Singapore's, which would require LTR Visa holders to invest at least 10% of their wealth in the Thai stock market in order to increase competitiveness with countries in the region.
Meanwhile, the association aims to attract more than 1 trillion baht in new capital to the Thai stock market within two years in order to increase the proportion of institutional investors.
The president of the AIMC association views the Thai stock market for the remainder of 2569 as follows: if earnings per share (EPS) of the market increase above 95 baht, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index has the potential to reach 1,600 points. However, in the short term, he estimates the SET index to be within the 1,475 point range. Factors to closely monitor include the tense situation in the Middle East, as well as the volatility of oil prices, which could cause an oil shock and lead to cost-side inflation. This is a difficult risk to mitigate and could impact the global economy and stock markets.
However, AIMC maintains a positive outlook on the Thai stock market, believing that the current index level has limited downside risk and that the Thai stock market remains attractive compared to the US stock market due to its relatively low valuation, which presents potential to attract investment in the future.
Read all news related to the Thai stock market situation here.
