Despite a fall in investment, Thailand's economic growth improved on the back of domestic spending and exports in the third quarter.
Gross domestic product advanced 2.9 percent from a year ago, slightly faster than the 2.8 percent expansion seen in the second quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board reported Monday.
The annual growth rate was forecast to slow to 2.6 percent. Quarter-on-quarter, GDP growth accelerated to 1 percent from 0.3 percent in the previous quarter.
The Southeast Asia's second-largest economy is forecast to grow 2.9 percent this year. The agency had earlier projected 2.7 percent to 3.2 percent expansion for 2015.
The GDP growth for 2016 is now seen between 3 percent and 4 percent.
While the worst should now be over for Thailand's economy, Krystal Tan at Capital Economics expects the pace of the recovery to disappoint.
The government's poor track record on meeting capital spending targets suggests any boost to growth will be smaller than the government hopes, said Tan.
On the expenditure side, household spending growth rose marginally to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, government spending growth eased to 1 percent from 3.8 percent.
At the same time, investment declined 1.2 percent, reversing the prior quarter's 2.7 percent expansion.
Reflecting higher demand, exports climbed 1.8 percent, which was faster than the 1 percent growth in the previous quarter. By contrast, the decline in imports deepened to 2.4 percent from 0.4 percent.
The production-side breakdown of GDP showed that the agricultural sector contracted 5.7 percent, while non-agricultural sector expanded 3.4 percent.
Manufacturing sector output turned positive, driven by motor vehicle industries. Manufacturing output grew 0.8 percent in the third quarter.
On the service sector front, hotels and restaurants, transportation and telecommunication and wholesale-retail trade were all still in the growth mode.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.