Peng Shuai will be top seed for the Thailand Open, starting Monday, with 2014 champion Ekaterina Makarova absent.
Peng will be making her debut in Pattaya City, and the world number 21 headlines the field at the WTA International event played on hard courts.
Makarova - who reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open - has skipped the event, which was formerly known as the Pattaya Open before a name change for the 2015 instalment.
Along with Makarova, Peng is a major semi-finalist, having reached the last four at the US Open in September, and she will be the player to beat in Thailand.
Other top-50 players in the draw include Ukraine's Elina Svitolina (26th), Zarina Diyas (33rd) of Kazakhstan and Japan's Kurumi Nara (44th).
Two-time champion Daniela Hantuchova will be seeded seventh, the world number 73 trying to make it a third time lucky in Pattaya City after winning the title in 2011 and 2012.
Other players likely to be given a seeding include Monica Puig, Zhang Shuai and Ajla Tomljanovic.
Another two-time winner of the event is Vera Zvonareva, and the former world number two - now ranked 190th - has been given a wildcard into the main draw.
Zvonareva lifted the title in 2009 and 2010.
Flying the flag for the locals is world number 131 Luksika Kumkhum, the number one ranked Thai on the WTA Tour.
The last Thai player to reach the final was Tamarine Tanasugarn in 2010, when she lost to Zvonareva.