The consumer price index (CPI) rose for a fourth straight month in November as higher retail fuel prices drove up costs for food and non-food items, says the head of the Commerce Ministry's Trade Policy and Strategy Office.
Director-general Pimchanok Vonkorpon said the consumer price index was 101.45, rising 0.99% from the same period last year and 0.07% from the previous month.
The price increases pushed annual inflation in the first 11 months of the year to 0.66%.
Ms Pimchanok said the rise in November prices was largely due to the non-food index, which was up 1.55% year-on-year as retail fuel prices rose in line with global oil prices.
"The rise in the non-food index was due to the extension of supply cuts by the Opec member countries, pushing oil prices higher," she said.
Other factors driving the non-food index in November were rising residential rents in some areas and costlier cigarettes and alcoholic drinks because of an excise tax hike.
The food price index edged up 0.03% year-on-year in November, Ms Pimchanok said.
Consumer goods with higher prices on the month included rice, cigarettes, coffee and cooking gas.
Products with lower prices included pork, eggs, vegetables and cooking oil.
Ms Pimchanok said the Commerce Ministry would still keep its full-year inflation target for 2017 in the range 0.4-1.0%.
For 2018, the ministry forecasts inflation in a slightly higher range of 0.6-1.6%.
"For the whole year of 2017, inflation should be 0.7%, which is still in the range of 0.4-1.0% we have forecast earlier," Ms Pimchanok said, adding that the forecast is based on GDP growth of 3-4%, global oil prices in the range of US$45-$55 a barrel and an exchange rate of 33.50-34.50 baht to the US dollar.
The core CPI, which strips out prices of oil and seasonal goods, rose 0.61% year-on-year in November and 0.55% in the first 11 months of 2017.
Ms Pimchanok said the Commerce Ministry is working closely with the Bank of Thailand and the National Economic and Social Development Board in monitoring the impact of the state welfare project on the CPI.
So far, the state welfare project, which gives low-income earners access to subsidised goods via state-issued welfare cards, has yet to push the CPI higher, she said.
