Business optimism nosedives

Affecting this pessimism during the quarter were immediate issues around the fishing industry, the Thai aviation industry, potential drought in the central region, and the slowing economies of major trading partners. In this regard business leaders in Thailand cited a lack of growth initiatives as a major source of concern.

Andrew McBean, Partner at Grant Thornton in Thailand and specialist in Asean markets commented: “In Thailand we are struggling to find many reasons for optimism at the moment. The government’s focus is more towards stability over prosperity however it could be argued that this focus has at least arrested severe economic turbulence in recent years and they are trying to deal with significant systemic issues which had not been tackled for many years. The tumbling global commodity prices have hit the outlook for Malaysia, which is one of the world's largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas.”