Crisis-hit Thai economy shrinks 0.6% in Q1 – govt

BANGKOK: Thailand’s economy shrunk 0.6 percent year-on-year in January to March, data showed on Monday, as the kingdom’s festering political crisis battered consumer confidence and frightened off tourists.

The contraction is the first since the last three months of 2011, when the country was hit by massive flooding, and comes as opposition protesters press for the removal of a bloodied caretaker government.