Meanwhile, the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s index closed at 1,549.11 yesterday, down 0.23 per cent from the previous closing on Thursday.

TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the attacks could result in long-term losses in terms of tourist revenue and arrivals, mainly from other Asian countries.

“By year-end, there could be about 100,000 to 200,000 travel cancellations,” he said in a statement. “That would cost about Bt5.08 billion to Bt10.16 billion.”

Tourism accounts for 10 per cent of Thai gross domestic product and is one of the few bright spots in an economy that has struggled under the stewardship of a military-led government that seized power in a bloodless coup two years ago.

The Kingdom had been expecting a record 32 million visitors in 2016, with expected revenue of Bt2.41 trillion.

Tim Leelahaphan, Maybank Kim Eng Securities’ Thailand economist, said the tourism sector would probably not be severely affected by the bomb blasts that hit seven provinces last week.

“We cannot say the situation has fully stabilised. Economically, however, it is not the tourist high season, while other destinations will continue to attract tourists,” he said.

He noted that the Erawan Shrine bombing in Bangkok on August 17 last year had only a short-term adverse impact, with tourism affected by no more than one month.

National Economic and Social Development Board secretary-general Porame-tee Vimolsiri said last week’s bombings should not affect economic growth as everything was getting back to normal quickly, while tourism seemed not to be affected yet.

Vichai Assarasakorn, vice chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand and the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said after soliciting opinions from provincial chambers of commerce nationwide that most were still confident in the Thai economy and not worried by the events.

GDP is still expected to grow by 3 per cent this year, while the acceptance of the draft charter in the August 7 referendum should ensure that the junta will keep its promise and set up a general election next year. As a result, consumers and foreigners will have confidence in the country’s economic growth, he said.

Industry Ministry deputy permanent secretary Sukda Punkla said it had been found earlier that many factories, especially in Samut Sakhon, did not follow the laws and caused severe environmental and health problems in nearby communities.

“The ministry has set up a committee on factory inspection and law enforcement, which consists of the Industrial Works Department, Military Circle 16 and local authorities, to proceed with this task, as the ministry was informed earlier that the local authorities did not have enough manpower to inspect all the factories in the province,” Sukda said.

He emphasised that this inspection aimed to enforce the Factory Act, so the officers would mainly check on factory registrations, environmental impacts, and working conditions.

However, if the officers found other law violations such as on human trafficking, child labour, or illegal migrant workers, the committee would notify the relevant agencies such as the Labour Ministry or the Fisheries Department.

Military Circle 16 Commander Maj-General Chaowalit Phongpitak disclosed that since the operation was first implemented from November 2015 to March this year, 109 factories had been inspected. Of that number, 85 had been found in violation of the law and had been ordered to fix the problems, and 24 had been temporarily shut down.

“It was the National Council for Peace and Order’s policy to prioritise the law enforcement, so the military has taken part in this operation in order to ensure that all factory owners follow the law strictly,” Chaowalit said.

Industrial Cluster 4 Bureau director Thaned Juntaklin said the committee would continue its work until August 25 for this term of implementation and the operation would conclude on August 30.

To get rid of small, illegal seafood-processing plants, Sukda said the ministry was considering amending the Factory Act to modernise the law to suit the current situation.

“The small seafood-processing plants are our major concern because it is hard to keep monitoring them and make sure they follow the law, so we are considering [whether] the Factory Act should be changes to make these small plants larger and easier for inspection,” he said.

He explained that currently a seafood-processing plant can legally register if it has more than seven employees, but the new amendment would raise that minimum to 50 workers and force a more systematic working pattern.

Acting Samut Sakhon Governor Narong Clalermkiat said the province was one of the biggest industrial cores of Thailand and a bustling centre for the seafood industry.

It has more than 5,000 factories of all kinds, around 300 of which are in the fishery and seafood-processing industries, and 67 per cent of the province’s annual revenue, or Bt335 billion, came from the industrial sector.

Another reason for the more positive outlook is rising tourist numbers, NESDB secretary-general Porame-tee Vimolsiri said.

He said last week’s bomb blasts should not affect economic growth as they were one-off incidents, and was confident that everything would get back to normal soon.

Moreover, with the majority vote in favour of the draft charter, the NESDB foresees stable politics and high foreign-investor confidence, as the junta now will follow its “road map to democracy”. As a result, growth of gross domestic product in the remaining months of 2016 should be stable.

However, the persistently sluggish global economy and fluctuation of the baht are major negative factors that could hold back the Thai economy.

Porame-tee said the baht was expected to continue appreciating in the current second half of the year, which could be a damper on exports.

The baht will average 35-36 against the US dollar this year, the NESDB says. The global oil price is projected in the range of $35-$45 per barrel.

Based on the assumption of 3.3-per-cent GDP growth, the NESDB projects that investment will grow by 3.3 per cent this year. Investment by the private sector will increase 1.5 per cent, with the government sector’s rising by 10 per cent.

Private consumption is expected to expand by 2.7 per cent this year, and government consumption expenditure by 3.9 per cent.

Export is expected to shrink by 1.9 per cent, while inflation will average 0.1-0.6 per cent this year.

The NESDB reported that in the second quarter, year-on-year GDP growth was 3.5 per cent, compared with 3.2 per cent in the first quarter.

On the production side, the non-agricultural sector expanded by 3.7 per cent in the second quarter, while the drought-affected agricultural sector declined slightly by 0.1 per cent. However, the agricultural sector is expected to grow in the third and fourth quarters after the end |of the drought and higher crop prices.

Domestic demand grew in the second quarter, mainly attributed to strong private consumption, which was up 3.8 per cent year on year. Government spending was up by 2.2 per cent, and gross fixed capital formation by 2.7 per cent.