Thai baht under watchListen to this articleAs Thailand heads to the polls this Sunday, the campaign trail has been crowded with promises of wage hikes, subsidies and generous domestic giveaways. As prices reached record highs, a spike in online gold trading by Thai investors led to higher dollar inflows being converted back into baht, strengthening the currency. This could lead to tougher US trade actions, including Section 301 investigations and possible retaliatory tariffs on key Thai exports. Our bilateral trade surplus with the US has soared to $54 billion (1.71 trillion baht), nearly four times the $15 billion limit set by Washington. Simultaneously, Thailand's global current account surplus has climbed to 3.8% of GDP, exceeding the 3% ceiling.

Source: Bangkok Post February 03, 2026 00:42 UTC