Thailand's cross-border trade plunged by 10.8% in the first month of this year, as the coronavirus outbreak dented the global economy and logistics services, particularly to southern China.
On Thursday the Foreign Trade Department reported the country's overall cross-border trade, including transit trade, totalled 86.1 billion baht, with Malaysia the biggest partner for border trade.
Transit trade involves the passage of goods through more than one country.
Of the total figures, exports from Thailand totalled 59.5 billion baht, down 9.44% from January last year, with imports shrinking 13.6% to 26.6 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of 32.9 billion.
Thailand's border trade with four neighbouring countries amounted to 86.1 billion baht, down 9.49% from 95.1 billion in January last year.
Of the total, two-way trade with Malaysia tallied 31 billion baht, followed by Laos (24.1 billion), Cambodia (16.8 billion) and Myanmar (14 billion).
The department said transit trade with Singapore, Vietnam and southern China eked out growth in January, totalling 25.2 billion baht, up 3.36% from 24.4 billion in 2019. Transit trade to southern China fetched the greatest value at 15.1 billion baht, followed by Singapore (6.17 billion) and Vietnam (3.96 billion).
Keerati Rushchano, director-general of the department, said the sharp drop in Thailand's cross-border trade stemmed from myriad factors, especially the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, which has hamstrung the global economy, including Thailand and neighbouring countries, both in terms of trade and tourism.
Mr Keerati said to offset the impact, the department organised the Southern Border Trade Fair at Narathiwat this month and is scheduled to hold similar border trade fairs in many provinces including Sa Kaeo, Chiang Rai, Nakhon Phanom, Tak and Yala.
The department also plans to hold joint meetings between the public and private sectors to tackle border-trade obstacles and facilitate exporters.
In 2019, Thailand's overall cross-border trade including transit trade amounted to 1.34 trillion baht, falling short of the Commerce Ministry's 1.6-trillion-baht target. The figures fell by 3.4% from 2018, weighed down by the strong baht, volatile foreign exchange and the prolonged trade war.