Investors keep wary eye on intensifying stir

Escalating antigovernment protests in Thailand could push one of this year’s worstperforming stock markets even lower, some investors fear, as political instability adds another layer of risk to an already fragile tourismdependent economy.

Thai stocks were Asia's worst performers this week, down 2.6 per cent, as protests hit the capital Bangkok where tens of thousands of people defied a ban on demonstrations.

Thailand has suffered a record $8.8 billion in equity outflows over the first nine months of this year, the exchange data shows, as the Covid-19 wrecks the travel-exposed economy and finance and industry-heavy stock index.

“The Thai market is in a slow death towards irrelevancy; protests are just one more thing,” said Jeep Chatikavanij of Ton Poh Fund.

PHOTO: REUTERS People show the three-finger salute during anti-government protests in Bangkok, on Friday. Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha rejected calls for his resignation, while his government failed to stop student-led protesters from rallying again in the Capital in defiance of a state of Emergency