Thai stocks jump at start on Thaksin speculation

BANGKOK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Thailand's benchmark stock index .SETI opened up more than 2 percent on Monday amid speculation that former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may go back into exile, lowering political tension.

At 0302 GMT, the main SET index was up 2.74 percent at 709.64 after opening up 2.56 percent. PTT PTT.BK, Thailand's biggest energy firm, was 4.7 percent higher at 268 baht and its energy subsidiary PTT Exploration (PTTE.BK) was up 3.33 percent at 155 baht. ($1=33.71 Baht) (Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Editing by Alan Raybould)