Interior of the Stock Exchange of Thailand featuring a reception area and digital display
The reception area of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, showcasing its modern design and digital information display

BANGKOK — The Stock Exchange of Thailand has amended its listing criteria, with the changes taking effect on Sept. 11, in an effort to attract companies to a market that has performed strongly for investors but has attracted almost no new listings.

The revisions cover 10 industry groups identified by the exchange as New Economy sectors, including advanced medical and healthcare, next-generation automotive and smart electronics. They create a dedicated route for businesses promoted by the Board of Investment and the Eastern Economic Corridor Office, while also revising public offering requirements for foreign companies already listed overseas. Such companies will be allowed to use their existing overseas listings when applying to list in Bangkok.

SET president Asadej Kongsiri said in a statement on Friday that the business composition of Thailand's listed companies had changed little over the past three decades, even as New Economy industries expanded rapidly and required genuinely accessible sources of funding. The changes form part of the exchange's three-year strategic plan through 2028.

The gap the new rules aim to close

The scale of the challenge is clearer from flotation figures than from any strategy document.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand hosted one initial public offering in the first half of 2026, raising US$10.4 million. The Singapore Exchange hosted five, raising a combined US$1.05 billion. Across the Asia-Pacific region, 247 flotations raised US$47 billion during the same period, according to consultancy EY.

Some investors see a similar problem in Thailand and Singapore: both markets are heavily weighted towards finance and real estate and lack a critical mass of technology companies. On these figures, Singapore is failing at the task far less expensively.

The paradox

None of this is occurring during a weak market, which is what makes the situation notable.

The SET Index has risen nearly 30% since the start of the year. Asadej said in late August that this ranked it fourth globally. Foreign investors had recorded net purchases of 67 billion baht year to date, while major agencies had upgraded Thailand's credit rating. The exchange's Thailand Focus conference in August attracted 220 institutional investors from 74 financial institutions, including participants from Switzerland, New Zealand and Israel for the first time.

Money is therefore coming in, but companies are not. An exchange can rise on the strength of its existing constituents while remaining unattractive as a listing venue, and Thailand is currently demonstrating that contradiction.

Why companies choose other markets

The reasons cited by Thai companies have been consistent and have little to do with listing criteria.

Kasikorn Securities has said Thai companies are increasingly being approached and encouraged to list in Singapore and Hong Kong, where trading liquidity is higher and listing processes are faster. Regulators have separately acknowledged that even a well-prepared company may have to postpone a listing because of unfavourable market conditions, economic uncertainty or government policy.

Liquidity and speed are structural issues, while listing criteria are administrative. The Sept. 11 changes address the latter, and the exchange has not claimed otherwise.

The timing problem

There is also a gap between the introduction of the rules and when companies can actually use them.

Asadej has said it could take New Economy companies up to two years to reach a listing because many are still in the early stages of their operations. The exchange has disclosed a near-term pipeline of 10 companies — five approved and five under review — representing the realistic supply for the coming period, regardless of what the new criteria allow.

The rules will therefore take effect in less than a week, targeting a class of companies that may not begin arriving until 2028.

An awkward overlap

One target sector deserves particular attention.

The exchange and the Board of Investment have been working to attract data centre, semiconductor and printed circuit board companies to raise capital in Bangkok rather than relying on overseas parent companies. Lower market capitalisation thresholds are among the incentives under discussion.

On Thursday, a government policy board ordered a pause on 166 data centre projects while four subcommittees spend a month drafting national standards covering power, water, site selection and safety. Both decisions are defensible on their own terms — one seeks investment, while the other seeks to control its consequences — and they were taken by different arms of the state within two days of each other. Neither has been publicly reconciled with the other.

What to watch

Whether any New Economy company files under the new criteria this year. The rules take effect on Sept. 11. A filing before December would suggest that eligibility rules had been holding back demand. No filing before 2027 would suggest that liquidity was always the main constraint.

Whether the 10-company pipeline converts. Five approved and five under review is a concrete, verifiable figure. The number that ultimately list, and how much they raise, will be the clearest available measure of whether the changes are working.

Whether foreign inflows continue if the index stalls. The 67 billion baht in net foreign purchases came during a 30% rally. Money that follows momentum tends to leave with it, while the listing reforms are a long-term project that will require several years of patience — something the market may not provide.

Originally published on IBTimes Thailand