Thai business group keep 2025 GDP forecast at 2.4% to 2.9%
Domestic demand remains weak while the strengthening of the baht poses a challenge to exports, a key driver of Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking said.
The group said it was also maintaining its export growth forecast at 1.5% to 2.5% this year, even as U.S. tariffs on China raise concerns of more global trade disruption.
Last year, exports increased 5.4% to a record $301 billion. Kriengkrai Theinnukul, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said shipments had been boosted by stockpiling before President Donald Trump took office.
"It may not be real demand. We will wait and see how this will affect exports in the first quarter," he told a news conference.
Kriengkrai said Thai exports could become more competitive following U.S. tariffs on other countries.
Trump has imposed tariffs on China and signalled the 27-nation European Union would be his next target, but he has suspended plans to level 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days.
The influx of Chinese goods into Thailand remains a problem and as many as 30 industries will be affected this year if no proper measures are taken, Kriengkrai said.
"China has clearly stated that it must produce and find markets. We have to protect ourselves," he said.
For 2024, the group estimated economic growth at 2.8%. Official growth data is due to be released on Feb. 17.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
14 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Rare 50p coin sells for £110 after fierce bidding war – exact detail to look out for
Plus, we reveal more rare coins that could sell for £180 COINING IT Rare 50p coin sells for £110 after fierce bidding war – exact detail to look out for Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A RARE 50p coin has sold for £110 after a fierce bidding war - we reveal the exact details to spot. The 2009 Kew Gardens piece was sold to one lucky punter after fighting off offers from 12 other bidders. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 The Kew Gardens 50p is a desirable coin for collectors There are around 210,000 of these coins in circulation, making it a very rare find. The front of this coin has an image of the late Queen Elizabeth II, with the engraver's initials, Ian Rank-Broadley, below. But what makes this coin special is the design on the reverse. The tails side features a leafy vine wrapped around a Chinese pagoda. It also has the date of the year it was made to commemorate the anniversary. Plus, you might be able to get more than £110 for the coin. Last month, one of these coins sold for £127.08 after 16 people tried to bid for it. That makes it a whopping 254 times its face value. And earlier this week, one of these coins sold for £120 on eBay after a bidding war, with 13 offers placed. But you might not always fetch such a high sum for the piece, with one seller on eBay flogging the same coin for £34 after 11 bids. Five 50ps that could earn you thousands The Kew Gardens piece is not the only rare coin that can be worth a pretty penny. The 2009 Blue Peter piece also recently sold for £180 after 21 bids. It was released in 2009 ahead of the London Olympic games in 2012. The coin features someone doing the high jump on one side, a design created by eight-year-old Florence Jackson from Bristol. The final design was chosen from over 17,000 entries as part of a Blue Peter competition. How to spot rare coins and banknotes Rare coins and notes hiding down the back of your sofa could sell for hundreds of pounds. If you are lucky enough to find a rare £10 note you might be able to sell it for multiple times its face value. You can spot rare notes by keeping an eye out for the serial numbers. These numbers can be found on the side with the Monarch's face, just under the value £10 in the corner of the note. Also, if you have a serial number on your note that is quite quirky, you could cash in thousands. For example, one seller bagged £3,600 after spotting a specific serial number relating to the year Jane Austen was born on one of their notes. You can check if your notes are worth anything on eBay, just tick "completed and sold items" and filter by the highest value. This will give you an idea of what people are willing to pay for some notes. But bear in mind that yours is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. This is also the case for coins, you can determine how rare your coin is by looking a the latest scarcity index.
Daily Mirror
17 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Top doctor behind bot that ‘skips' UK driving test queue for eye-watering price
The Mirror's probe comes after the practical test backlog topped 600,000 for the first time earlier this year – with the average wait time now a staggering 22 weeks A doctor linked to a top British university can be unmasked as the boss of a controversial bot-booking driving test website. The country's practical test backlog topped 600,000 for the first time earlier this year – with the average wait time now a staggering 22 weeks. Our probe reveals a Chinese expert who earned a PhD at the University of Manchester is behind a firm charging customers £49 to get a bot to book their driving test. Dr Jiarun Cao's aptly-named DriveBot has boasted: 'Skip the 6-month DVSA queue. DriveBot's 24/7 cancellation checker secures early tests at multiple centres—fully refundable if we can't.' The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has warned how bots – automated software programs – can be used by organisations to 'swiftly find and secure available slots more quickly than individual customers'. Earlier this year the Department for Transport unveiled fresh measures 'to combat test-buying bots'. And a two-month consultation ends next week which the government billed as a way 'to improve the booking system and block bots from accessing tests'. Bot-booking a driving test is not illegal but DVSA says it doesn't 'approve or endorse the use of any services that search for available test slots using its practical driving test bookings systems' The expert's name is notably absent from DriveBot's website. But we managed to trace his involvement via Companies House where he incorporated Drivebot Ltd in August last year. The 30-year-old, who owns a £500,000 apartment at a plush east London block, is listed among alumni at Manchester University's National Centre for Text Mining. His PhD at the university – part of the elite Russell Group – was funded by Cancer Research UK, with Dr Cao thanking the charity in his 194-page thesis. Since earning his doctorate last year, he appears to have used his talents to capitalise on the practical driving test backlog. Wait times started to increase in 2020, the DVSA explained, 'due to an increase in demand and low learner driver confidence in driving test availability, resulting in a change in their booking behaviour'. It added: 'This change in behaviour has persisted.' DriveBot offers customers two options, one involving learners forking out £19 to receive a notification to book tests. Its website explains: 'As soon as the bot detects any cancellation appointments, you will get notifications via Telegram immediately.' Or for £49 users can choose the 'Auto-booking' option, with the website crowing: 'No need to worry about appointment booking, the bot will do everything for you. The fastest way to get a slot.' For those without an appointment, the website explains: 'We need to pay your DVSA drive test fee (£62) on your behalf to reserve the appointment when it's available.' Customers are instructed: 'Choose a search window of at least 1 month—the wider the range, the better your chances of catching a cancellation. You can use the auto-booking feature as many times as you like, and once we've secured you a slot, you can always use the bot again to swap it for a different date if needed.' In April, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced changes aimed at reducing test wait times to seven weeks by summer next year. They included 'doubling the number of permanent trainers to skill up new driving examiners quickly'. And also an 'accelerated consultation to investigate the potential abuse of the driving test booking system and prevent bots from accessing tests'. The average wait time for a car practical driving test in Great Britain at the end of June was 22.3 weeks, the DVSA said. The body explained the figure represents the number of weeks before 10% of tests are available to book. Meanwhile, 603,352 practical driving tests were booked by the end of April, analysis of DVSA figures revealed earlier this year. Peter Harvey, chairman of the driving instructors' National Associations Strategic Partnership, said: 'We all know the waiting lists are very long, the best way to approach booking the test is to consult with your trainer before applying for the practical test… paying an extra cost on top of the DVSA fee often is a waste of money.' Drivebot said: 'DriveBot is not a service that stockpiles appointments and then resells them at a premium. Its sole purpose is to alert learners when a vacancy meets the learner's pre-set date-and-centre window and, if they wish, to auto-fill their own DVSA account information. The £49 service fee is refunded in full if no appointment is secured. We never remove tests from public circulation, so we do not create the scarcity that fuels urgent need, nor do we lengthen waiting times; we simply spare a small group of candidates the tedium of constant browser refreshes.' It added: 'Dr Cao completed his PhD at the University of Manchester in 2024 and is now an alumnus only… earlier this year he stepped away from DriveBot's daily operations.' The firm said Dr Cao's London property 'was purchased with personal savings without linked mortgage long before DriveBot existed'. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the University of Manchester or Cancer Research UK. The University of Manchester said it 'has no relationship with Dr Cao since his graduation', adding: 'His current activity relating to bot technology has no connection with any software he developed as part of his studies.' DVSA said: 'DVSA does not run, approve or endorse the use of any services that search for available test slots using its practical driving test bookings systems. is the only official way to book your practical driving test. Using will keep your data safe, help you stay informed and save money.'
Reuters
21 hours ago
- Reuters
Japan tariff negotiator Akazawa to hold more trade talks in US next week
TOKYO, July 19 (Reuters) - Japan's top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said on Saturday he planned to visit Washington next week to hold further ministerial-level talks with the U.S. Tokyo is hoping to meet an August 1 deadline to reach a deal to avert President Donald Trump's tariff of 25% on imports from Japan.
