Confidence in the industrial sector improved slightly in November as local orders and sales picked up.
The industrial confidence index for the month was 89.7 compared to 87.5 in the previous month, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) reported on Wednesday.
The improving sectors were food, electrical appliances, electronics and fashion, among others.
Chairman Suphan Mongkholsuthee said the increase was due to increased orders and sales in various local industries, driven by year-end sales promotion, as well as higher output and operating results.
The forward index over the next three months also inched up to 106.1 from 105.6 in the previous survey, indicating optimism among operators.
The FTI found confidence had improved in small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as large companies, for both domestic consumption and exports.
To sustain the recovery, the FTI suggested the government speed up disbursing budgets for procurements and other projects and lift martial law. Centres should be set up to monitor various forms of trade barriers and to control substandard imports such as steel, food and consumer products for people's safety and to help local operators.
Surapong Paisitpatanapong, spokesman for the FTI's automotive industry club, said auto production fell 13.55% to 158,038 units in November, bringing the output in the first 11 months of the year to 1.73 million units, a 24.88% decline.
Domestic auto sales plunged 21.8% to 73,068 units in November while sales from January plummeted 34.9% to 792,328 units.
However, auto exports bucked the trend during the month, climbing 11.03% year-on-year to 106,591 units for 47.83 billion baht, up 6.96%.
From January to November, exports were still down 0.12% to 1.04 million units for 487.98 billion baht, up 3.45% year-on-year.