The Thai industrial sentiment index rose in January on increased domestic demand, tourism and exports, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said on Wednesday.
FTI said its industrial sentiment index in January increased to 90.6 from 88.8 in the previous month.
Spending during Lunar New Year, government visa-free travel programmes as well as a tax break on spending all supported sentiment, the FTI said.
Thailand received 5.2 million foreign tourist arrivals from Jan 1 to Feb 18, up 49% from a year earlier. The government expects about 34 million to 35 million visitors this year.
Another industrial index that projects sentiment over the next three months also picked up in January, helped by improved domestic and external demand as well as government measures to tackle high household debt problems.