Thailand’s industry sentiment index increased for the 6th consecutive month in November from tourism recovery and rising economic activities but the 3-month forward-looking index declined due to concern over the global economic slowdown, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said.
The index, based on a survey of 1,315 businesses from 45 industrial sectors, increased slightly to 93.5 points in November from 93.1 in October and 91.8 in September.
The FTI also warned that if the electricity price goes up in January, product prices will also go up by 5-12% while blaming the government’s mismanagement on the rising electricity bill.
“Factors that were supporting industrial sentiment were domestic demand recovery, the expansion of tourist numbers while economic activities are returning to normal which is supporting domestic consumption and spending,” said Kriengkrai Thiennukul, FTI’s chairperson.

Apart from that, the construction sector was expanding as damages from flooding are leading to higher demand for construction materials, he said.
The dissipating problem of microchip shortage was a boon for automobile and electronic sectors while lowered freight rate was also a boon for exporters.
However, manufacturers were still concerned about higher production costs from rising electricity bills, higher prices for raw materials, the increase in minimum wages and rising interest rates.
A slowdown of demands from major exporting partners due to a slowdown in the global economy, the strengthening of the Thai Baht and China’s prolonging of its Zero-Covid policy are also impacting the export sector.
The survey showed that 70.3% of the surveyed businesses were concerned about the global economic slowdown while 43.5% were concerned about the domestic political situation.
43.3% of the surveyed manufacturers said they were concerned about the rising interest rates and 42.9% of the surveyed exporters were concerned about the strengthening Baht.
On the other hand, 59.2% of the surveyed businesses said they were less concerned about oil prices and 39.4% said they were less concerned about the domestic economy.
From the concerns, the 3-month forward-looking index decreased to 97 points in November and 98.8 in October.
Other negative factors in the forward-looking index include high production costs, high energy prices, inflation’s impact on purchasing power, the prolonging of the war in Ukraine which is affecting the global economy and the fluctuation of the Thai Baht.
For recommendations, the surveyed manufacturers urged the government to:
- Maintain the electricity bill at 4.72 Baht per unit
- Provide incentives for manufacturers that look to invest in renewable energy
- Streamline the application process for solar rooftops at factories
- Introduce measures to promote soft power to encourage tourists to visit the country and buy Thai products and services
The FTI said product prices could go up by 5-12% if the government hikes the electric bill for the period of January and April as planned.
The current electricity price is already at a record high of 4.72 Baht per kilowatt hour (unit).
The government is planning to hike the FT (fuel tariff) rate for electricity bills between the billing period of January and April which could increase the price of electricity to 5.37-6.03 per unit.
“The rising electricity bill mainly came from the mismanagement of the gas resource in the gulf of Thailand,” said Isare Rattanadilok Na Phuket, the deputy chairman of the FTI.
“The concession transition period for the Erawan gas field was too late which led to the increase in the import of LNG (Liquefied natural gas) which is currently pricy and there was no contingency plan for the problem,” he said.
The FTI also said they are expecting around 1.5 million tourists per month during the high season. They believe that the total number of tourists will increase from around 10-11 million in 2022 to 20-21 million in 2023.