Thailand's headline consumer price index (CPI) fell 2.99% in April from a year earlier, the largest decline in more than 10 years and sharply below expectations, commerce ministry data showed on Tuesday.
The reading compared with a forecast decline of 1.20% in a Reuters poll, and with March's 0.54% decline. The drop was the largest since the depths of the global financial crisis in July 2009.
The central bank predicts the headline inflation rate will be minus 1.0% this year, compared with its target range of 1-3%.
The annual core inflation rate was 0.41%, compared with a forecast of 0.46%, and March's 0.54%.