Somchai assures Thailand's resilience to US crisis

"Losses could be contained to some extent. The insurance company is listed in Thailand, though its parent company is based in the US. The volatility in the stock exchange is driven by psychological reasons, which should remain for a the short term.

Meanwhile, impacts on the real estate industry would be limited as US investment here is small. This would not affect the government's mega-projects," he said on Thursday after the meeting with key figures."

Finance Permanent Secretary Suparut Kawatkul said top of the agenda of the meeting was the impacts of the collapse of Lehman Brothers as well as financial troubles at American International Group. As an indirect impact, Thailand could face higher financial cost but that is manageable.

 He said all institutions would stay alert to monitor second waves of impacts.  

 Attending the meeting were Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, his deputies and Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase.