Thailand’s national planning agency yesterday announced that the country’s economy grew 5.8 percent in the last quarter of last year, compared with the same period of 2008, after a prolonged contraction during three previous quarters.
According to Dr. Ampon Kittiampon, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), the overall economy for the entire 2009 however still contracted 2.3 percent as a result from the contraction of 7.1, 4.9 and 2.7 percent in the first three quarters of the year, when compared with the corresponding periods in 2008.
The NESDB, …

Born:  10 October 1955
Education:
1978 — B.A. (Social Science), Kasetsart University, Bangkok
1979 — M.S. (Economics), Northeastern University, Boston, USA

1988 — Ph.D. (Applied Economics), Clemson University, South Carolina, USA
 
Current Positions:
Key positions
1 October 2004 – present  – Secretary-General, the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB)
30 April 2009 – present  – Chairman of the Board of Directors, Thai Airways International Plc.
Other positions
- Member of the Board, the Bank of Thailand (BOT)
- Member of the Monetary Policy Committee, BOT

Thailand’s economy has recovered in the second quarter of this year from a recession during the first quarter, with a positive quarterly growth expected in the last quarter, according to the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).
Dr.Ampon Kittiampon, secretary-general of the state planning agency NESDB, yesterday said the gross domestic product (GDP) in the April-June quarter contracted by 4.9 percent when compared with the corresponding period last year after it had fallen by 7.1 percent in the first quarter.
During the second quarter, Dr.Ampon said, the country’s seasonally adjusted GDP …