Bangkok: The consumer confidence index has been low for seven consecutive months and the lowest in 32 months due to political uncertainty following the departure of Paethongtarn as Prime Minister, the US trade war, and the Thai-Cambodian border dispute.
According to Thai News Agency, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Economic and Business Forecasting revealed the results of its August 2025 consumer confidence survey. The consumer confidence index declined across all items for the seventh consecutive month and reached its lowest level in 32 months, dating back to January 2023. This decline stemmed from consumer concerns about political uncertainty following the Constitutional Court’s ruling dismissing Prime Minister Paethongtarn Shinawatra from office; the impact of the trade war, in which the US reduced import tariffs from 36% to 19%; and the ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. Consumers perceive the Thai economy as slowing and recovering slowly.
The overall economic confidence index, overall job opportunity confidence index, and future income confidence index stood at 44.1, 48.3, and 58.0, respectively. These are all declines for the seventh consecutive month, compared to July’s 45.6, 49.8, and 59.6, respectively. The fact that the index remains below normal (100) indicates that consumers remain unconfident about the economic situation, job opportunities, and future income due to concerns about the domestic political situation, the high cost of living, and the risk of a global economic slowdown due to the ongoing trade war. This impacts the Thai economy and employment and the likelihood of a slow recovery in the future, leading to high uncertainty about consumers’ future income.
The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) fell from 51.7 to 50.1, marking the seventh consecutive month of decline and its lowest level in 32 months since January 2023. The fact that the overall consumer confidence index remains below 100 indicates that consumers continue to perceive the overall economic situation as slow to recover, and that the high cost of living, along with the trade war, continue to erode consumer confidence, both current and future, in the near term.
Current consumer confidence fell from 36.7 to 36.0, while the Future Confidence Index fell from 58.9 to 58.1. The fact that the Consumer Confidence Index has declined across all items for the sixth consecutive month indicates that consumer confidence could decline in the future if Thai politics become unstable and the economy cannot recover quickly under the government’s economic stimulus measures.