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Mekong Memo Thailand Weekly: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal news.

Jun 26, 2026

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The Numbers Don’t Quite Add Up

Exports last month reached $34.3 billion, up 10.6% from a year earlier and extending Thailand’s export growth streak to 23 months. The headline looks strong until you take a closer look. Growth slowed to its weakest pace in three months, missed forecasts of 11.6%, and fell well short of April’s 23.1%. Imports were up more than a third (35.1%) to $40 billion, pushing the monthly trade deficit to $5.71 billion and the five month shortfall to $25.2 billion, the country’s eighth straight monthly deficit. Even so, the Trade Policy and Strategy Office now says exports could grow 8% this year, a nice bump up from last month’s base forecast of 3%. Agricultural exports fell about 7% in May and autos and air conditioner parts also slipped.

Read more: Bangkok Post (TPSO comments), TradingView (forecast miss), TradingView (deficit comparison)

Standing Still

The central bank left interest rates unchanged at 1.00% on June 24 for a second straight meeting, even as several Southeast Asian peers have been raising rates to support their currencies after the Iran conflict forced energy prices higher. The Bank of Thailand expects inflation to increase to 2.8% next year, but sees the current pressure as temporary rather than something higher interest rates would fix. It also massaged its 2026 growth forecast up a bit to 2.3% but cut 2027 to 1.8%. Research suggests exports and AI-related investment are doing most of the heavy lifting whereas household spending and small business lending remain weak.

Read more: Bloomberg (economist consensus), FX Street (DBS forecast), FX Street (UOB rate call), TradingView (AI investment)

One Stock to Rule Them All

Delta Electronics (Thailand) has become the country’s first $100 billion company on high demand from AI data center builders. The company is now worth more than Thailand’s next four largest listed firms combined and has become the second most valuable stock in the MSCI ASEAN Index behind Singapore’s DBS Group (banking). Thailand’s stock market has been Southeast Asia’s best performer this year, but much of that gain can be pinned on this single company.

No Place Left to Hide

Thailand is tightening the screws on foreign nominee companies with help from software and a reduced reliance on tipoffs. The Department of Business Development is already using a system that cross checks company records, tax filings, land ownership, and financial data to flag businesses that appear to be under foreign control despite having Thai owners on paper. The proposed legal changes would also make serious nominee violations eligible for money laundering charges. At the same time, the government plans to open more sectors, including telecom services, HR, IT management, treasury centers, petroleum drilling, and some capital markets activities, to direct foreign investment.

End of The Fare Maze

The cabinet has approved a plan to buy back Bangkok’s electric rail concessions for up to 200 billion baht, which would replace today’s jumble of fares with a single 17 to 45 baht system that would work on every city line. The government is expected to finance the buyback through an infrastructure fund instead of public debt, with a central payment system targeted for January 2027. The final cost could end up well below the 200 billion baht ceiling as the Green Line concession expires in 2029.

Thailand Picks Its Tourist

Thailand has officially cut visa free stays from 60 days to 30 for most visitors, with a single additional 30 day extension available for 1,900 baht. Travelers must also complete the new Thailand Digital Arrival Card before entering the country. The changes come after last year’s crackdown on repeated visa runs. At the same time, the government has made its Long Term Resident visa more attractive by lowering employer revenue requirements, dropping some work experience rules, and extending dependent benefits to parents and legally married same sex spouses.

Read more: Nation Thailand (LTR visa), Eurasia Business News (30-day stays)

The Meter’s Catching Up

Thai authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Wang Yicheng because of a illegal crypto mining operation where he was accused of stealing about 950 million baht, or $28 million, worth of electricity. Wang was also identified in a 2023 Reuters investigation that traced millions of dollars linked to pig butchering scams to a wallet in his name where US authorities separately seized about $500,000 in cryptocurrency connected to a fraud victim in Massachusetts. Investigators believe he has already left Thailand.

Read more: Bangkok Post (scam wallet), AZ News (arrests)

Passing for a Price

Thailand may end up rescanning all 480,000 answer sheets from last year’s local government recruitment exam after investigators discovered a massive cheating scheme. About 10 people have been arrested for altering roughly 3,000 papers for candidates who paid between 350,000 and 800,000 baht for guaranteed passes, creating what investigators believe was a 4.5 billion baht bribery operation. If approved, the entire exam will be rescanned in front of journalists as candidates already confirmed to have passed will continue joining the civil service.

Read more: Bangkok Post (bribe amounts), Bangkok Post (appointment delay)

420 to Nil

Thailand's new Product Defect Liability Bill passed the House without a single vote against it. If defects appear within six months for electronics and motorcycles, or within a year for cars, sellers will have to repair, replace, refund, or reduce the price. Serious defects must be replaced within seven days for most products and within 14 days for electronics. The bill now moves to a committee before returning to parliament. The bill now goes to committee, though after a 420-0 vote, the hard part may already be over.

Four Seats Filled

Thailand and Cambodia have now appointed all four conciliators for their UNCLOS maritime dispute which means the 30 day countdown to choose a neutral chair has started. Thailand picked two former presidents of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Cambodia selected Peter Taksoe-Jensen, who helped broker the Timor Leste and Australia maritime boundary agreement, along with French international law professor Jean-Marc Thouvenin.

Chasing a Billion Dollars

Thailand and Kazakhstan want to almost quadruple bilateral trade to $1 billion within five years, up from about $255 million today. The agreement builds on trade growth of roughly 11% and comes as nearly 200,000 Kazakh tourists visited Thailand last year. Both governments also want more direct flights, and Kazakhstan now accounts for more than 70% of Thailand’s trade with Central Asia.

Read more: Nation Thailand (medical tourism), Qazinform (cooperation sectors), Qazinform (Tokayev invitation)

Bangkok Gets Bots

Chinese robotics company AgiBot has chosen Bangkok for its Asia Pacific headquarters as it pushes into factories, shopping malls, and elder care. The company recently built its 10,000th humanoid robot and has partnered with Thai distributor VST ECS to sell and service its products locally. Customers who are not ready to buy outright will also be able to lease robots through the company's subscription model.

Read more: Bangkok Post (VST ECS), Thailand Business News (partner conference)

100 Days Later

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul reaches his first 100 days in office on Saturday after spending much of the period dealing with the oil price spike triggered by the June US and Israeli strikes on Iran. His government tapped the Oil Fuel Fund, increased coal power generation, and sourced more fuel from the US, Malaysia, and Brunei to prevent shortages. The immediate crisis eased, but Thailand still faces the same longer term problems of weak growth, high household debt, and an aging population.

Still Running on Diesel

Government fuel subsidies are slowing Thailand's move to electric trucks, according to UD Trucks Thailand, which says battery powered models are still only at the feasibility stage. Its Bang Na-Trat factory can produce 20,000 trucks a year but is currently operating at about half that level, exporting vehicles to more than 60 countries. The company sold 1,300 trucks within the country last year and captured a 13% market share in the first quarter of 2026.

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