Thailand factory output shrinks

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BANGKOK- Thailand’s manufacturing production extended declines for the 16th month in January, the industry ministry said on Thursday, as a key driver of the economic engine struggles amid weak domestic and export sales of motor vehicles.

The 2.94 percent  year-on-year decline compared with a forecast 5.1 percent  fall in a Reuters poll, and followed December’s revised 4.66 percent  drop.

The weakness was driven by a drop in auto production, which has slowed for the sixth consecutive month including domestic sales and exports, the ministry said.

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Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy is a regional auto assembly and export hub, home to Japanese manufactures like Toyota and Honda

Soaring household debt has held back production, WarawanChitaroon, head of the Office of Industrial Economics, told a briefing, as it affects overall domestic consumption and business investment decisions.

Thailand has one of the region’s highest ratios of household debt, at 16.2 trillion baht ($451 billion) or 90.9 percent  of gross domestic product (GDP), as at the end of September 2023.

Use of illegal loan sharks is rife among lower-income families unable to get bank loans, with many people trapped by debt with high interest rates.  

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