According to the Bank of Thailand (BOT), Thai economic growth slowed in January 2022, with private consumption and investment declining due to concerns over the Omicron variant outbreak.
The number of foreign tourists declined due to the temporary suspension of entry via the Test&Go system, while goods exports fell after an increase in the previous month. In terms of government spending, the decline was due to regular federal government spending on goods and services.
Headline inflation rose with the increase in energy and fresh food prices. The same applies to core inflation, which rose compared with the previous month. The situation in the labor market gradually improved.
The Bank of Thailand explained that the initial impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on Thailand was the volatility of the financial market, which has quite good foreign stability, but was affected in the short term, causing fluctuations in the baht.
The second is higher inflation, and the third is the Thai payment system, which is expected to be a problem but will have to keep in mind the impact on global payment systems if Western countries exclude Russian banks from the SWIFT system.