The baht strengthened last week on investment flows into the bourse as well as external income to the current-account surplus, she said.

The unit is still in line with regional currencies, and the capital measure eases the need for the central bank to intervene in the foreign-exchange market, she added.

No threat yet

Fitch Ratings said yesterday that the country's political uncertainty continued to drag down sentiment and economic growth but not yet to the point that its credit rating was affected.

Thailand's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings were affirmed at "BBB+" and "A" respectively due to support from the strengthening external financial position and improving public finances.

However, the agency noted that the outlook for sovereign creditworthiness could become more problematic if the political situation remained unresolved for a protracted period, as the interim administration had not proved particularly adept at economic policy management.

Airline food

Thai Airways International's kitchen is launching more in-house brands of frozen foods and drinks, following the success of Puff and Pie, with a plan to penetrate discount and convenience stores.

"We're studying this plan in detail. The kitchen at Don Mueang Airport will be the production centre," Jumpot Mintakhin, director for marketing and operations, said yesterday.

The reopening of Don Mueang Airport also prompted THAI to turn the kitchen there into a centre supplying authentic Thai food to foreign airlines.

The Suvarnabhumi kitchen is working on a line of halal food, which accounts for 15 per cent of all output. As it targets more Arab airlines, THAI plans to increase the proportion of halal food.

THAI's kitchen at Suvarnabhumi now serves 69 airlines with 55,000 meals a day. Capacity is 87,000.