The Thailand Industry Sentiment Index (TISI) in October rose to 82.1 points, the highest in five months, due mainly to the speedy distribution of 80 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines and the reopening of the country, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
The index continued to rise for the second consecutive month, up from 79 points in September.
"The domestic economy is expected to grow between November and December this year and will continue to grow next year," said Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the FTI.
He attributed the better economic prospects to the state's efforts to speed up mass vaccination for the population, with up to 80 million doses of vaccines administered.
This will boost business confidence and help bring people's lives back to normal in which they will have more purchasing power and spend more money.
The reopening of the tourism industry to welcome back fully vaccinated tourists without quarantine also drove the TISI.
"But the government should not only hope for the return of Chinese visitors because it remains unclear when the Chinese government will ease rules to allow its people to travel abroad," said Mr Supant.
The FTI expects the government to launch new stimulus packages to boost spending during the Loy Kratong and New Year festivals.
The October TISI was based on a survey of 1,423 enterprises in 45 industries nationwide.
Most of the respondents said they were worried over fuel prices, with a vote of 70.3%, followed by domestic economic downturns (62.1%) and Covid-19 outbreaks (60.2%).
The FTI wants the government to put the fuel tariff (Ft), which is used to calculate electricity bills, at an appropriate rate to give time for businesses to recover.
"We're worried the Ft will increase because of the global oil price surge," said Mr Supant.