SET, BOI seek incentives to draw foreign firms to Thai capital market

Asadej Kongsiri, president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), said an important development in cooperation between SET and the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) was the consideration of additional incentives for foreign companies investing in Thailand, particularly in data centres, semiconductors and printed circuit boards (PCBs).

The aim is to encourage these companies to use Thailand’s capital market for fundraising instead of relying solely on capital from overseas parent companies, while allowing Thai investors to share in the growth of future industries.

The proposal will be submitted to the BOI board for consideration before the measures are expected to become clear in the third quarter of this year.

At the same time, SET is preparing to add flexibility to the admission of companies in these sectors to listing, such as reducing market capitalisation criteria for new industries that may need time to grow in the early stages.

This would allow New S-Curve companies to access funding more quickly and conveniently, creating competitive opportunities equal to those in overseas capital markets.

SET has also held a public consultation on revisions to new listing criteria to support New Economy or S-Curve businesses, which is due to end on Friday (May 8, 2026).

The next step is to compile the feedback for submission to the SET board and then to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand (SEC), for consideration.

The new criteria are expected to be announced within the third quarter of this year.

As for the outlook for the Thai stock market, positive momentum is expected in May and the period ahead after the overall market in April showed strength.

Investors did not panic over the war situation in the Middle East, helping the Thai stock index close at 1,493.69 points, up 3.15% from the previous month.

The positive signal has continued to the present, as the war remained limited in scope and was resolved in the short term.

At the same time, MSCI index weighting adjustments are expected to have a possible positive impact on Thai stocks.

As the Thai stock index has risen by about 20%, there is a chance the weighting of Thai stocks in MSCI indices may change positively in the next rebalancing rounds.

Credit rating agency Moody’s has also revised Thailand’s credit rating outlook from “negative” to “stable”.

The leading domestic positives include better tourism recovery and export figures, the post-election situation and various economic policy measures.

Together, these have made the “Thailand Story” a fully fledged key driver, keeping Thai stocks attractive to investors.

Asadej said the government’s large-scale investment projects, particularly long-term economic measures to retool the engines of growth and drive the Thai economy through infrastructure projects and the transition to clean energy, would help the Thai economy and capital market become more liquid and move faster in the future.

On government policy, SET is waiting to monitor details on the expansion or establishment of an Infrastructure Fund, which would be an important mechanism for fundraising instead of relying solely on debt legislation.

The main idea is to make future income from existing infrastructure available for investors in the market to buy into, with the funds raised used to develop new infrastructure for the country.

Foreign capital flows in April 2026 saw only a small outflow of about THB2 billion, less than the market had previously expected.

As a result, from the start of the year to the end of April (YTD), foreign investors remained net buyers at about THB16 billion, while average daily trading value stood at around THB60 billion to THB65 billion.