Foreign investors have sold a net $1.46 billion of Thai shares and bonds this year as Thailand's military government struggles to pull Southeast Asia's second-largest economy out of a rut a year after seizing power.
Selling accelerated in July, when investors unloaded a net 22 billion baht ($625.89 million) of shares amid a slew of worse-than-expected economic data which led the Finance Ministry to cut its growth forecast for the third time this year.
"Economic weakness is certainly disappointing," said Orsen Karnburisudthi, senior investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management in Bangkok.
Aberdeen still saw some value in retail stocks and large banks, he said, despite subdued second-quarter earnings.
Thailand's poor economic performance has hastened the exit from Thai and other emerging markets of investors positioning themselves for the first US interest rate hike in nearly a decade.
The central bank has warned that growth may fall below 3 percent, the Finance Ministry's latest forecast.
International investors have sold a net 39.8 billion baht of Thai shares to date in 2015. More than half was in July, when the index tumbled 4.3 percent, Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) data showed.
As of May 2015, foreign investors still held 4.57 trillion baht of Thai shares, about 33 percent of market capitalisation, according to the SET.
Foreign funds have also unloaded a net 11.5 billion baht of Thai debt this year, according to the Thai Bond Market Association.
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