The country’s economic growth and tourist arrivals are forecast to drop this year as the Middle East conflict roils global energy prices, the finance ministry said.
The country’s GDP growth is projected to dip to 1.6%, the ministry said in a statement, down from 2.4% in 2025.
Growth in the South-East Asian nation is anaemic, with the tourism sector vital but arrivals yet to return to their pre-Covid highs.
The government said in February that this year’s growth forecast was between 1.5 to 2.5%.
Thailand expects about 33.5 million foreign tourists this year, about two million fewer than previously estimated, the ministry said yesterday.
Tourists from Europe and the Middle East have declined as a result of the US-Israeli conflict against Iran, which began two months ago and has driven up fuel prices, the ministry added.
Visitors from the Middle East fell by a third in March compared to the same month last year, and European arrivals dropped around 4%, while tourists from other Asian nations rose 6%, according to Thai tourism ministry figures.
Thailand received nearly 33 million foreign visitors in total last year.
The country’s core inflation was forecast to hit 3% this year, up from an earlier estimate of 0.3%. — AFP
