Government urged to make Thai stock market more investor friendly, as new trading app launched
Thailand's stock market should be improved to attract more investors, investment gurus said on Thursday.
The remarks were made during a press conference at the launch of "Liberator", a stock trading application, at The Athenee Hotel in Bangkok.
The application, which does not charge any stock trading fees and offers access to a community for exchange of knowledge, was launched by Liberator Securities.
Nonarit Bisonyabut, a senior research fellow at Thailand Development Research Institute, said the people's demand for savings had increased amid uncertainty over the ageing society.
The majority of the elderly say they do not have enough savings to be used during their retirement, he said.
He pointed out that more people were turning to gambling in order to make money. He added that around 800,000 people on average were turning to gambling annually.
"On the other side, 2.3 million people had opened their account for investment, but only 400,000 to 600,000 investors were still active," he said.
Nonarit said the government's move to levy a financial transaction tax on stock trades from April 1 this year barred investors from speculating for profit.
Instead, he said Thailand's stock market should be improved to attract more investors. He suggested including the Liberator application in schools in a bid to create awareness among students.
Meanwhile, Thai Value Investor Association chairman Chalermdej Leewongcharoen said zero stock trading fee should have been introduced a long time ago.
He pointed out that the decline in the number of stock investors had happened as some of them were not aware of this investment.
"However, investment in stocks has changed, thanks to several investors sharing their knowledge on the internet," he said, adding that most of these investors were teenagers.
Echoing Nonarit, Chalermdej slammed the government's move to levy a financial transaction tax on stock trades. Instead, he advised the government to make the stock market more transparent, especially on regulations related to fees.
He pointed out that Thailand's stock market was not fair, as large investors paid less in fees than retail investors.
"Levying a financial transaction tax on stock trades will affect market sentiment," he said.
Both gurus praised Liberator Securities for launching an application that is able to tackle the stock market's pain points effectively.
According to Liberator Securities, stock investors had to pay 0.08% in commission fee while trading stocks. For instance, investors have to pay 800 baht in fee for trading stocks worth 1 million baht.
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