Thailand’s industrial sentiment increased for the first time in five months in November, boosted by an increase in tourism, consumption and exports with a help from new government measures, according to the report by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) on Tuesday.
Exports also improved following a recovery in demand of trading partners overseas, which boosted Thai manufacturing, said FTI after the report of the industrial sentiment index rising to 90.9 in November from 88.4 in the previous month.
However, the federation expressed concerns over higher interest rates and rising minimum wage in Thailand.
According to a senior government official on Friday, the government is planning to raise the average daily minimum wage by 2.37% to between THB330 and THB370, starting January next year.
The Thai National Shippers’ Council expected exports to grow 5% in November, but still decline 1% this year due to sluggish demand for the most part of 2023. Meanwhile, exports are expected to grow 1-2% in 2024.
