The Thai economy shrank 2.6% in the first quarter, compared to the same period last year, according to the government's economic-planning agency Office of the National Economic and Soial Development Council, or NESDC. The yearly contraction for the fourth straight quarter was smaller than the contraction of 4.2% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020. Apart from Thailand, other countries in the region have seen yearly economic contractions in the first quarter, with the Philippines at -4.2%, Indonesia -0.7% and Malaysia -0.5%. All of these countries experienced local outbreaks of the coronavirus which disrupted economic activities in the quarter. Meanwhile, Singapore (0.2%) and Vietnam (4.5%) were the only two among the six major regional economies to have posted positive growth. "Both have benefited from strong manufacturing output and an expansion in the wholesale and retrial trade sectors," said Sung Eun Jung, an economist from Oxford Economics. "They also have a better record of containing domestic COVID outbreaks, which will help to sustain the ongoing recovery in domestic demand," she said.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/New-COVID-waves-delay-economic-recovery-in-Southeast-Asia