Thailand’s industrial sentiment hits two-year low amid political strife

[snoop1130]

 

Thailand’s industrial sentiment index experienced a decline for the third consecutive month in June, reaching its lowest point in two years, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). The drop is attributed to a sluggish economy, weak demand, and increasing bad debt problems.

 

The FTI reported that the industrial sentiment index fell to 87.2 in June, down from 88.5 in May. The ongoing political uncertainty has also impacted business confidence, with smaller firms particularly affected by liquidity issues as banks tighten their lending policies.

 

Political turmoil continues with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin facing a Constitutional Court case that could lead to his dismissal. The 62 year old Thai premier denies any wrongdoing, and the court is scheduled for its next hearing tomorrow.

 

 

Despite these challenges, the FTI highlighted that tourism remains a crucial pillar supporting Thailand’s economy. The country welcomed 18.9 million foreign tourists from the beginning of the year to yesterday, marking a 34% increase year-on-year. Among these visitors, approximately 3.7 million were from China, according to government data, reported Bangkok Post.

 

The Thai government projected that the nation’s economy, Southeast Asia’s second-largest, will grow by 2.5% this year. This forecast follows a 1.9% growth rate last year, which lagged behind other regional economies.

 

By Bright Choomanee

Picture courtesy of Evan Krause, Unsplash

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-07-17

 

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[JackGats]

I hope the digital walletees will be able to use the digital wallet to settle their bad debts. Or is it precisely something the digital wallet may not be used for?

[ikke1959]

And it will go down even more even after the 10k handout...   As long as the old guard is in power nothing is changing.... really nothing...... and things that can will give some recovery as the gay marriage is not for this year anymore but maybe next year.....it will boost parties and a lot of people will benefit from it, but it has to be published first and than wait for another 4 months... Nobody can plan at this moment yet

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The drop is attributed to a sluggish economy, weak demand, and increasing bad debt problems.

With no policies in place to alleviate the issue.

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, JackGats said:

I hope the digital walletees will be able to use the digital wallet to settle their bad debts. Or is it precisely something the digital wallet may not be used for?

Most people I know will blow the 10K on a weekend family gathering.

Come Monday morning the debts will remain.

[Dcheech]

When you can't even make cheap elephant pants to sell inside of Thailand. You got problems. 

[sidneybear]

13 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

And it will go down even more even after the 10k handout...   As long as the old guard is in power nothing is changing.... really nothing...... and things that can will give some recovery as the gay marriage is not for this year anymore but maybe next year.....it will boost parties and a lot of people will benefit from it, but it has to be published first and than wait for another 4 months... Nobody can plan at this moment yet

Gay marriage? In what way will things people do in their bedrooms help the economy? Progressive politics isn't helping other countries in the world, so why would Thailand benefit?

[ikke1959]

11 minutes ago, sidneybear said:

Gay marriage? In what way will things people do in their bedrooms help the economy? Progressive politics isn't helping other countries in the world, so why would Thailand benefit?

There are a lot of gay/lesbians who want to marry ....... look to the countries and google how much money is contributed to the economy... Very simple

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2019/6/26/the-economic-impact-of-same-sex-marriage

 

And many more to find

 

[retarius]

 

54 minutes ago, Dcheech said:

When you can't even make cheap elephant pants to sell inside of Thailand. You got problems.

I was thinking about buying a pair of cheap elephant pants with my digital wallet. I guess I'll have to settle for a Chinese pair.

[john donson]

nobody has the balls to say this was illegal vote buying and the party did not even win the elections... next time 50k? 100k ?

[sidneybear]

38 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

There are a lot of gay/lesbians who want to marry ....... look to the countries and google how much money is contributed to the economy... Very simple

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2019/6/26/the-economic-impact-of-same-sex-marriage

 

And many more to find

 

Bedroom behaviour really is off topic, when real reasons like erosion of competitiveness, lack of R&D, factory closures, etc, etc, are far more pertinent. 

[spidermike007]

Politics is only a small part of the problem here. 

The economy is still reeling after 9 years of the "Prayuth Decimation" and tremendous levels of incompetence with regard to economic policy. From what I hear new car sales are down over 40%, the used car market is dead, condo and home sales are down, and manufacturers are leaving Thailand in droves, with very little new investment coming in.

 

Thailand is in for quite a ride over the next few years, and that doesn't even take into account the probability of a huge worldwide economic correction, which I believe is coming. 

 

Thailand has witnessed nearly 2,000 factory closures in the past year, upending its manufacturing sector that contributes nearly a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP).

 

“The industrial sector has slumped, and capacity utilisation has fallen below 60 per cent,” Mr Srettha told Parliament last week. “It is clear that the industry needs to adapt.” As a result, job losses jumped by 80 per cent during the same period, with more than 51,500 workers left without work, the data shows.

 

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/thai-economy-faces-upheaval-due-to-factory-closures-cheap-chinese-imports

 

[Srikcir]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The drop is attributed to a sluggish economy, weak demand, and increasing bad debt problems.

Slight alteration for accuracy (my italic font):

'The drop is attributed to more than a decade of  a sluggish economy, weak demand, and increasing bad debt problems.'

[ikke1959]

1 hour ago, sidneybear said:

Bedroom behaviour really is off topic, when real reasons like erosion of competitiveness, lack of R&D, factory closures, etc, etc, are far more pertinent. 

I didn't talk about bedroom behavior.. I mentioned samesex marriage

[lavender19]

Add in the expat tax debacle as well. I know quite a few who are planning to leave for 180 days a year if that goes ahead.