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Published on January 31, 2008

The survey sought the opinions of 1,311 investors in 13 Asia-Pacific markets: Thailand, Australia, China, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan.

It was conducted in November

and December of last year, when the fresh round of US sub-prime mortgage problems had yet to strike stock markets around the world.

ING Funds (Thailand) managing director Maris Tarab said 69 per cent of Thai respondents expected to see a better investment climate in Thailand this year. However, 17 per cent warned of worsening investment conditions, while the remaining 14 per cent believed investment would be similar to last year.

"The proportions actually coincide with [those of] a survey that sought opinions on the Thai stock market over the next three months. [That survey found that] 36 per cent of surveyed investors were confident of a stock-market improvement, 16 per cent expected the market to plummet and 15 per cent saw the market floating at the same level as that last year," he said.

In the second survey, 93 per cent of respondents believed India would enjoy greater investment, while 58 per cent expected a poorer investment climate in Japan.

On the question of returns from investment in Thailand, 66 per cent of respondents said they had received higher returns in the previous three months. Sixty-eight per cent said they were optimistic for better returns from investment in this year's first quarter."

Thai respondents said they would opt for more short-term investment.

The Nation