exports are forecast to contract<\/a> by 0.5% to 1.5%. Inflation is projected to remain subdued, hovering between -0.2% and 0.7%.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are concerned about an economic recession,\u201d said Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries and a member of the JSCCIB.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new government must make serious efforts to transform old industries into new ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Kriengkrai noted technological transformation is essential to revitalising the economy.<\/p>\n
He warned that exports are likely to remain under pressure due to US tariffs and baht appreciation.<\/p>\n
The currency strengthened more than 8% against the US dollar last year, causing Thailand to lose competitiveness in international trade, said Mr Kriengkrai.<\/p>\n
Poj Aramwattananont, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and another JSCCIB member, urged the government to monitor gold trading, which can influence foreign exchange rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baht\u2019s appreciation will deal a blow to the export sector, which drives the Thai economy alongside tourism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA closer look at changes in baht value is an urgent task for the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Household debt<\/p>\n
Domestically, household debt remains a heavy burden. In the second quarter of 2025, Thailand\u2019s household debt-to-GDP ratio tallied 86.8%, limiting borrowers\u2019 ability to access new credit and prompting banks to tighten lending criteria.<\/p>\n
Global tensions are also adding to uncertainty. The panel noted the US invasion could disrupt supply chains and affect Thailand\u2019s manufacturing sector, though the impact is expected to be limited given the relatively small trade volume between Thailand and Venezuela \u2014 around $500 million annually.<\/p>\n
Still, business leaders warn the geopolitical fallout could have broader consequences.<\/p>\n
Payong Srivanich, chairman of the Thai Bankers\u2019 Association and a JSCCIB member, said the military strikes in Latin America have raised concerns about global investment flows.<\/p>\n
\u201cThailand badly needs to adapt to changes in global politics and the economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Economic growth in 2026 expected to be the weakest in 30 years Trailer trucks transport cargo at Laem…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,4995,15419,61,60,118839,1099,118838,1667],"class_list":["post-232645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-gdp-growth","tag-household-debt","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jsccib","tag-recession","tag-sluggish-exports","tag-thailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n