Introduction
 
This report looks at the size and composition of the wealth market in Thailand, analyzing the opportunities that exist for regional and local players and providing the best strategies for entry. Competitive dynamics and customer tendencies are analysed, including an insight into the offshore nature of investors in these markets.
 

 
Scope
 
Macroeconomic and savings and investment data collected directly from governmental sources such as the Bank of Thailand
 
Insight into the Thai financial services market obtained through in-depth interviews with the main wealth managers and private bankers
 
Sizing and forecasting of mass affluent and high net worth individuals generated from Datamonitor's proprietary Global Wealth Model
 
Highlights
 
As an indication of their dominance, domestic banks held 99.3% of all deposits of individuals in the Thai market, which gives them a distinct advantage when it comes to wealth management.
 

 
The provision of specialist services in Thailand for affluent individuals seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Of the major domestic banks, only Thai Military Bank, Bangkok Bank and Krung Thai Bank have an affluent offering outside of their normal retail banking services.
 

 
Even mass affluent clients require relationship management and an elevated level of service and this can be done through dedicated branches of the kind seen in other countries.
 

 
Reasons to Purchase
 
Allows wealth managers to monitor threats and opportunities posed by their main competition
 
Forecasts the market to 2008, allowing you to plan strategies on the basis of detailed market information
 
Helps plan products and services by giving key information on customers' financial services preferences

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 8
 
What is this report about? 8
 
Who is the target reader? 9
 
How to use this report 9
 
CHAPTER 2 THAILAND 11
 
Introduction and macroeconomic background 11
 
Population and GDP 12
 
Inflation and interest rates 13
 
FDI 14
 
Retail savings & investments 15
 
Affluent individuals 17
 
Offshore tendency 17
 
Affluent individuals and their assets 17
 
Regulatory environment 20
 
Financial services 20
 
Capital markets 21
 
Banking structure 23
 
Local players 23
 
Foreign entrants 24
 
Onshore services 24
 
Offshore services 27
 
Future outlook 29
 
Customer outlook 29
 
Wealth market outlook 32
 
Data 34
 
CHAPTER 3 APPENDIX 39
 
Definitions 39
 
AAGR 39
 
CAGR 39
 
Gini index 39
 
Liquid assets 40
 
Liquid asset bands 40
 
Research methodology 40
 
The Global Wealth Model 41
 
The UK sub model 41
 
Asia-Pacific sub model 41
 
Forecasting methodology 42
 
Datamonitor’s wealth numbers compared with others’ numbers 42
 
Bespoke Wealth Market Sizing 43
 
Further reading 44
 
Datamonitor Asia-Pacific Wealth Reports 44
 
Datamonitor Asia-Pacific Insight Reports 44
 
Datamonitor Global Wealth Service: Competitor Tracking 44
 
Datamonitor Financial Services Consulting 45
 
Asia-Pacific contacts 45
 

 

 
LIST OF TABLES
 
Table 1: Datamonitor’s wealth market coverage 8
 
Table 2: The local players have a large share of the Malaysian banking market, 2004 23
 
Table 3: Specialist offerings available in Thailand 28
 
Table 4: GDP and S&I growth over the 1998-2003 period 34
 
Table 5: Bank rate, adult population and inflation, 1998-2003 34
 
Table 6: Thai retail liquid assets, 1998-2003 34
 
Table 7: Components of GDP, 2003 35
 
Table 8: Number of Thai mass affluent individuals, 1998-2003 35
 
Table 9: Liquid assets of Thai mass affluent individuals, 1998-2003 36
 
Table 10: Number of Thai high net worth individuals, 1998-2003 36
 
Table 11: Liquid assets of Thai mass affluent individuals, 1998-2003 36
 
Table 12: Forecasted retail liquid assets, 2003-2008 37
 
Table 13: Forecasted number of Thai mass affluent individuals, 2003-2008 37
 
Table 14: Forecasted liquid assets of Thai mass affluent individuals, 2003-2008 37
 
Table 15: Forecasted number of Thai high net worth individuals, 2003-2008 38
 
Table 16: Forecasted liquid assets of Thai high net worth individuals, 2003-2008 38
 
Table 17: Wealth markets that have been modeled using the Global Wealth Model 43
 

 

 
LIST OF FIGURES
 
Figure 1: Methodology diagram and report structure 10
 
Figure 2: Major components of Thai GDP, %, 2003 13
 
Figure 3: Thailand’s interest rates have fallen in recent years in keeping with the global trend 14
 
Figure 4: Retail savings and investment assets in Thailand have grown faster than the economy over the last five years 15
 
Figure 5: Deposits were the slowest growing investment vehicle for Thai investors between 1998 and 2003 16
 
Figure 6: The liquid wealth of mass affluent individuals in Thailand grew at a rate of 6.8% CAGR over the 1998-2003 period 18
 
Figure 7: The number of Thai HNW individuals grew by 7.2% AAGR over the 1998-2003 period 19
 
Figure 8: HNW individuals will own almost half of total retail liquid wealth in 2008 29
 
Figure 9: The mass affluent population will grow at a rate of 9.8% over the 2003-2008 period 30
 
Figure 10: There will be 39,000 more high net worth individuals in Thailand in 2008 than in 2003 31