Regional and provincial economic activities have been picking up after the country's reopening and the positive momentum is expected to be carried on in the remaining period of this year, says an executive at the Bank of Thailand (BoT).
After the government announced the reopening of the country from Nov 1, the economy overall -- including regional and provincial economic activities -- have been improving in all areas, especially consumer spending, local transportation and domestic tourism, said the BoT's senior director for structural economic policy department, Chitkasem Pornprapunt.
Mr Chitkasem said the BoT expects the recovery in economic activities will continue in November and December this year.
The central bank yesterday debuted what it calls the BoT Regional Activity Tracker (BOT RAT), which will enable it to better track economic situations, trends and people's living conditions in all regions.
The information gained from the tool will help regional business operators, who need up-to-date economic data, to draw up better business direction plans.
The BOT RAT covers regional economic indices in five areas -- overall regional economy, tourism, employment, transportation and drought.
The information gained from BOT RAT will be released monthly, starting from Nov 15.
In addition, the BoT's research into Thailand's regional businesses during 2007-17 found that regional businesses in the North, the Northeast and the South were weaker.
The regional businesses overall experienced lower profitability, reflected in their falling return on asset (ROA) and higher debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio.
The research found that more than 50% of regional businesses experienced higher D/E ratio and showed weaker financial status.
Provinces showing higher financial fragility were Nakhon Ratchasima, Phuket, Suratthani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla and Lampang.
Businesses with lower profitability were in wholesale and retail, property, building, hotels and restaurants, and businesses processing farm produce.
Businesses with high D/E ratio a decade ago were in the sectors of wholesale, retail, and hotels and restaurants, particularly in the South.
The rising D/E ratio of southern businesses was largely a result of their higher investment in response to higher demand of foreign tourists.
In 2017, the net profit of all businesses in Bangkok and Greater Bangkok accounted for 27% of total profit of all businesses in the surveyed regions, followed by 16% from those in the combined North, the Northeast and the South.
In 2017, the foreign direct investment (FDI) ratio in the North, the Northeast and the South combined represented only 3% of total FDI nationwide.
In contrast, the FDI in Bangkok and Greater Bangkok and Central Thailand was 97%.