"Policymakers and exporters in Thailand are once again voicing concern about the strength of the baht," Gareth Leather, senior Asia economist at research firm Capital Economics, wrote in a note earlier this month. "While most currencies have appreciated against the US dollar in recent months, none have risen by as much as the baht."
" strong currency is worsening the economy's plight by hurting exports further," Prakash Sakpal, Asia economist at Dutch bank ING, told CNBC. Analysts at Singapore bank DBS said Monday that the strong baht is bad news for Thailand's trade competitiveness. They cited a study by the Bank of Thailand, which showed that, for every 1% the baht strengthened against the dollar, it increases export prices — in dollar terms — by 0.3%.
On Tuesday, data showed the country's manufacturing output for June headed the same way: It fell 5.54% from a year earlier, which was worse than the forecast of a 3.15% decline.