Thai economy supported by tourism and exports amid external risks

Pisit Puapan, director of the Macroeconomic Policy Division and spokesman for the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), gave an overview of the Thai economy for May 2026, saying the economy continued to receive its main support from growth in tourism and exports.

However, the government still needed to monitor external risks, particularly geopolitical tensions and global oil prices, which could affect supply chains and domestic production costs.

A closer look at economic drivers by category showed that the "tourism sector" remained an important force supporting the economy.

In May 2026, 2.35 million foreign tourists entered Thailand, up 3.5% from the same period last year, while the domestic tourism market was also lively, with 24.8 million Thai visitors, up 2.2%.

Exports begin to slow

As for "exports", they continued to expand well for the 23rd consecutive month, with a total value of US$34.3331 billion, up 10.6%, marking the 23rd month of continuous growth, although the pace had begun to slow slightly.

After excluding oil, gold and military supplies, underlying exports grew 8.6%.

Products with notable growth included:

• Electronics (+32.5%)
• Plastic pellets (+17.4%)
• Fresh and processed fruit (+5.2%)
• Pet food (+3.1%)

Meanwhile, rubber, sugar, and automobiles and parts declined.

By trading partner market, the main markets with solid growth were:

• United States (+33.5%)
• ASEAN-5 countries (+29.7%)
• European Union (+12.1%)
• Japan (+11.7%)

Conversely, the Indochina and Indian markets contracted by 16.1% and 10.3%, respectively.

Confidence shaken

"Private consumption" was on a growth path, reflected in new passenger car and motorcycle registrations, which rose 15.2% and 2.9%, respectively.

This was in line with farmers’ income, which improved by 2.3%.

However, the consumer confidence index fell to 49.5 from 50.6 in the previous month.

The main reason was that people had begun to worry about the war in the Middle East and higher oil prices, which were putting upward pressure on living costs.

Construction and property signals weaken

At the same time, "private investment" showed signs of being steady.

Although machinery imports for investment rose 19.6%, figures reflecting real estate and construction, such as tax revenue from real estate transactions, contracted by 8.6%, reflecting caution over investment for business expansion.

This higher cost factor was also reflected in the industrial confidence index, which fell to 84.7 as operators shouldered rising costs amid a slow recovery in the domestic economy, even though the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) remained above 50.0, indicating that the industrial sector was still expanding.

However, Pisit stressed that Thailand’s economic stability remained strong.

Headline inflation in May 2026 stood at 2.79%.

The public debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of April 2026 was 66.6%, still within the fiscal discipline framework.

Thailand also had international reserves of US$287.5 billion, providing a strong buffer against global economic volatility.

Foreign investors are still confident in government bonds

As for "financial markets", as of Wednesday (June 24, 2026), trading value on the Thai stock market was about THB114.176 billion.

Domestic retail investors bought a net THB11.218 billion that day and had accumulated net purchases since the start of the year of THB37.676 billion.

Domestic institutional investors bought a net THB3.841 billion on the same day, while foreign investors sold a net THB14.81 billion in the stock market.

Overall, from the start of the year to Wednesday (June 24, 2026), foreign investors continued to show confidence in Thai assets, with accumulated net purchases in the stock market of THB11.82066 billion and net purchases in the bond market of THB21.20781 billion.

This reflected that Thai government bonds remained a stable investment destination at a time when monetary policies in major powers were changing.