According to a report released by the National Economic and Social development Board (NESDB) of Thailand on November 16, Thailand's gross domestic product in the third quarter contracted 6.4% compared with the same period last year, which was better than the previous quarter's record contraction of 12.1% and better than market expectations of an 8.6% contraction. This is mainly due to the recovery of domestic economic activities following the relaxation of the epidemic prevention restrictions. However, the continued travel ban has still affected the country’s main tourism industry. Thailand's gross domestic product grew by 6.5% in the third quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, beating the previous quarter's record contraction of 9.9% and beating market expectations of 3.8% growth, the biggest quarterly increase in eight years. In this regard, the Thai government has also revised up its GDP forecast for the year of 2020 from the previous contraction of 7.3% to 7.8% to a contraction of 6.0%. The authorities also revised up their full-year export contraction to 7.5% from a previous 10% contraction. Now Thailand is facing a sluggish tourism industry, weak global demand, a strong Thai baht and domestic political protests that have continued for months. Thammarat Kittisiripat, an economist at Tisco Group, said Thailand's third-quarter data were a surprise, but the economic situation had not changed and was forecast to decline until the first quarter of next year. While most local restrictions have been lifted as infection rate slowed down, Thailand's economy continues to be hit by weak global demand and a lack of foreign tourists. Kobsidthi Silpachai, head of capital markets research at Kasikornbank, said: "Now that the northern hemisphere enters winter, the number of COVID-19 cases globally is on the rise, which will bring pressure on economic growth over the next two quarters."