Thai exchange sets 8am start for global products from Nov 16

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will bring forward the opening of trading in products linked to foreign securities to 8am from 10am and introduce eight revised trading measures from November 16, 2026.

Trading in foreign securities products to start at 8am

The SET’s earlier opening will apply to day-session trading in depositary receipts (DRs), derivative warrants (DWs) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including foreign ETFs, that reference overseas securities. Trading will begin at 8am Thai time from November 16, while closing times will remain unchanged.

The SET said the extended morning session would broaden investment opportunities and make it easier for Thai investors to access overseas assets efficiently.

Eight trading measures take effect on November 16

SET president Asadej Kongsiri said the eight revised trading measures would take effect on November 16 following consultation with investors and other stakeholders in May and approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission board.

Asadej said the measures were designed to improve market quality and fairness, reduce abnormal price volatility and strengthen oversight of inappropriate trading behaviour. The changes would adapt the rules to current investment conditions and international practices while supporting confidence in Thailand’s capital market under the SET’s vision, “The Trusted Gateway to Inclusive Opportunities”.

“This package aims to balance market liquidity and stability, reduce trading costs for all groups of investors and base supervision on actual trading behaviour, giving investors confidence in the fairness of Thailand’s capital market,” Asadej said.

The SET’s eight measures are:

1. Smaller price increments for shares priced at 5–50 baht. The SET will reduce tick sizes, or minimum price increments, for securities priced at 5–50 baht per share. The aim is to narrow price spreads, improve the likelihood of orders being matched, lower trading costs for all investor groups and increase market liquidity.
    
2. Revised short-selling price rules. Under normal conditions, the SET will apply the Zero-Plus Tick rule, allowing short sales at prices equal to or above the latest traded price. If a security closes at least 10% below its previous day’s closing price, the Uptick rule will apply on the following trading day, requiring short sales to be priced above the latest traded price. The SET said this approach was intended to curb selling pressure during volatile periods without affecting liquidity or trading costs under normal conditions.
    
3. Short selling restricted to highly liquid securities. Eligible securities will comprise SET100 constituents, securities underlying single-stock futures, DRs and ETFs.
    
4. Revised registration requirements for trading activity. The SET will determine registration requirements by considering the use of a dedicated application programming interface (API) for submitting orders or characteristics associated with high-frequency trading (HFT). Factors will include order frequency and speed, end-of-day positions and daily trading value, allowing supervision to reflect actual trading activity.
    
5. Additional fees for high order-to-trade ratios. Trading accounts with an order-to-trade ratio (OTR) above 50:1 and an average submission rate exceeding 50 orders per minute will face an additional charge. The fee will apply only to orders exceeding 15,000 per day, at 0.15 baht, or 15 satang, per order. The SET said the charge would reflect the actual cost of system resources and discourage orders submitted without an intention to execute trades.
    
6. Removal of individual-security dynamic price bands. The SET will abolish the Dynamic Price Band (DPB) to reduce trading barriers, particularly for securities with low liquidity.
    
7. Removal of restrictions on securities available to high-frequency traders. The SET will lift limits on the securities that HFT participants may trade. The change aims to apply a consistent supervisory approach to all investor groups, align with international standards, improve trading flexibility and provide equal access to all types of securities.
    
8. Removal of minimum resting times. The SET will abolish the Minimum Resting Time (MRT) requirement to improve order management and reduce the burden on member firms’ systems.

The SET directs investors to the trading circulars in its website’s Rules and Regulations section for details. The relevant circular concerns revisions to rules and operating guidelines for securities with foreign underlying assets, known as Global Products, and changes to trading measures.