Thai economy prepares for headwinds, hopes for tailwinds

[BANGKOK] Thailand was well on the path to economic recovery in the second half of 2022, albeit lagging the recoveries of many of its South-east Asian neighbours, but there remains plenty of headwinds on the horizon in 2023 that could slow its advance.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5 per cent in the third quarter of this year, thanks to a boost from the return of international tourists and an uptick in domestic consumption. This brought the economy back to its pre-Covid levels for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020.

On Monday (Dec 19), Thailand’s central bank forecast the economy to expand 3.2 per cent this year, 3.7 per cent in 2023 and 3.9 per cent in 2024. This would continue a positive growth trend since the pandemic, when the economy contracted by 6.2 per cent in 2020 before recovering to see a 1.6 per cent expansion in 2021.