In 2024, Thailand faced multifaceted challenges, including prolonged and escalating geopolitical tensions, which have led to clear trade and technological divisions. Simultaneously, the economic slowdown in China, exacerbated by an oversupply situation, has intensified price competition, directly impacting Thailand’s industrial sector and SMEs. Furthermore, the country must adapt to major megatrends, such as climate change, rapid technological advancements particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and an aging society. Structural problems within Thailand remain significant obstacles to competitiveness, amid income and opportunity inequality, high household debt, and a large proportion of vulnerable populations. In response, the government has implemented short-term measures to lower the cost of living and stimulate purchasing power, alongside medium- and long-term strategies to strengthen the Thai economy.

Amid these challenges and uncertainties, we recognize the necessity of adapting swiftly to ensure our readiness for both present and future business operations. We are committed to prudent and meticulous business practices, prioritizing asset quality and portfolio management to balance risk and return with a focus on quality. Additionally, we continue to fortify our balance sheet by maintaining a high coverage ratio and ensuring our capital ratio remains robust relative to the Bank of Thailand’s standards. This approach prepares us for economic volatility, the transition to a new economic era, and the evolving landscape of industry, technology, and innovation.

As a leading commercial bank listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Krungthai Bank drives its organization through innovation, striving to develop financial products and services that cater to all customer segments while balancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations. For retail customers, we enhance access to financial services, savings, and investment opportunities, making them inclusive, equitable, and transparent across all channels nationwide to ensure long-term financial stability. For business customers, including SMEs and large enterprises, we strengthen and enhance their competitiveness. Meanwhile, for government entities, we develop financial technologies and innovations to support public sector operations, enabling businesses and individuals to access government services quickly, conveniently, and efficiently. Furthermore, we emphasize responsible lending to support all customer groups and address Thailand’s household debt issue, a structural problem that hinders the country’s economic progress. Key initiatives in 2024 included the Sustainable Civil Servant Debt Consolidation Scheme and measures to reduce loan interest rates for vulnerable groups. Additionally, in 2025, we will continue supporting the “You Fight, We Help” program to alleviate financial burdens and contribute to a sustainable and concrete resolution of Thailand’s household debt issue.

Our initiatives in the past year have reinforced our role as a pillar in driving economic progress and enhancing Thailand’s global competitiveness. Through the Thailand Open Digital Platform, we facilitate equal opportunities for individuals to improve their quality of life while supporting government policies that assist customers and the public. To drive Thailand 4.0 policy, we continue to propel the nation’s economy by supporting high-potential and new S-curve industries to align with the future economy and generate long-term positive social and environmental impacts. Our objective is to improve the quality of life for all Thais in a modern way of life while fostering meaningful societal and economic transformation.

We remain steadfast in our commitment to operating our business with good corporate governance and realizing our vision of “Growing Together for Sustainability.” To this end, we uphold fair business practices for all stakeholders and foster a culture of responsibility, integrity, and transparency within our organization. Additionally, we have implemented a zero-tolerance policy against corruption. Our operations strictly comply with legal and regulatory frameworks, reinforcing public trust and strengthening our reputation as a reliable partner. Our tangible achievements include consistent growth in net profits, an increase in quality loans, and prudent, efficient asset management. We maintain stability through appropriate capital reserves aligned with asset quality trends and capital adequacy requirements, ensuring optimal returns for our shareholders. Furthermore, we have been recognized as a leading organization in leveraging innovations and technologies to offer modern, value-driven financial products and services that address customer needs across all dimensions and enable all Thais to have a better life every day while prioritizing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations and contributing to economic and social sustainability. As a result of these efforts and achievements, we received 88 prestigious awards from domestic and international organizations in 2024. Notable accolades include the highest rating, or “AAA,” in the SET ESG Ratings for two consecutive years; recognition in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2024 for the banking industry; the Best Digital Bank Thailand 2024 award from World Economic Magazine; the Best Digital Business Solutions Bank Thailand 2024 award from Global Business Review; and the Corporate Excellence Award at the Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards 2024 from Enterprise Asia.

In 2025, Krungthai Bank will drive its organization under the theme of “Corporate Value Creation: Enhancing Skills, Creating Value for the Future.” We aim to equip employees with future skills, foster a positive learning mindset, and integrate cutting-edge technology into operations to enhance the Bank’s competitiveness. Our goal is to develop financial products and services that truly meet customer needs while forging strategic partnerships to deliver targeted solutions across all customer segments. We will continue to operate responsibly, prioritizing ESG principles, strengthening monitoring and compliance systems to mitigate corruption risks, and preparing for emerging cyber threats. By doing so, we seek to deliver exceptional customer experiences and generate economic value built on trust, ensuring the Bank’s stable and sustainable growth in the long-term future.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, Executives, employees, and our subsidiaries, I extend my sincere gratitude to our shareholders, business partners, and public and private sector customers for your continued confidence and trust in Krungthai Bank. We look forward to your ongoing support in the years to come.

In 2024, the Thai economy continued to experience a K-shaped growth, primarily driven by the steady rebound of the tourism sector and the support of the government, including accelerated budget disbursement, economic stimulus measures, and efforts to alleviate household living costs. However, the industrial sector faced challenges from technological transformations, most notably in the automotive industry. The global economic slowdown, particularly in China, led to an influx of imported goods, impacting SMEs. Moreover, Thailand continued to face structural challenges that led to limited competitiveness and high household debt while household incomes in certain segments have yet to fully recover. These factors contributed to Thailand’s below-potential growth.

Amid this challenging environment, Krungthai Bank has maintained a cautious and prudent approach to business operations, emphasizing sustainable and high-quality growth. We have focused on efficient cost management, asset quality preservation, and investing prudently and with discipline in innovation and related businesses while maintaining a high coverage ratio and ensuring an adequate allowance for expected credit losses to mitigate economic uncertainties and the challenges of an uneven economic recovery. Additionally, we have remained committed to closely supporting all customer segments, particularly vulnerable groups, to help them adapt and recover sustainably. We have also contributed to addressing the country’s household debt issues, enabling customers to recover, adapt, enhance their competitiveness, and generate adequate and sustainable income. As a result of these strategic efforts, in 2024, Krungthai Bank and its subsidiaries reported a net profit attributable to the Bank of THB 43.856 billion, marking a 19.8% year-on-year increase. This growth was driven by higher operating income, including high-quality net interest income growth from loan growth among strategic customers, increased net fee and service income, and effective overall cost and asset quality management.

Throughout 2024, we were committed to executing our seven strategic focuses, accelerating business execution to enhance our competitive edge and future growth potential. The following are the key achievements for each strategic focus. 1) Unlock Disproportionate Value from X2G2X: This includes constant enhancement to the Paotang application as the Thailand Open Digital Platform serving over 40 million users with diverse financial services, such as the SBM (Sasom Bond Mung Kung) Wallet, digital corporate bonds, Krungthai Gold Wallet, digital lottery, Paotang Pay, Health Wallet, and international driver’s license application service. We also strengthened customer engagement by deep linking customer segments through the development of other key products and services, including PointPay, which allows customers to pay Tung-Ngen merchants with points instead of cash, and the expansion of Krungthai Business by integrating PromptBiz, the national financial and payment infrastructure for businesses. 2) Leverage digital and data to drive efficiency: Examples of this are the development of features in Krungthai NEXT, a platform that boasts over 18 million users, Krungthai Business, and Krungthai Smart Trade. 3) Launch new growth platforms: This includes applying for a virtual bank license from the Bank of Thailand (BOT) in partnership with other organizations to serve those who lack access to financial services, such as underserved individuals and SMEs. Additionally, we are developing banking-as-a-service to provide service together with certain state-owned specialized financial institutions. 4) Support sustainable and inclusive growth: Krungthai Bank is a leading provider of comprehensive sustainable finance solutions that are aligned with ESG principles, offering transition financing through various instruments, including Green Loans, Sustainability-Linked Loans, Green Deposits, and ESG-Linked Derivatives. Furthermore, we have accelerated the development of products that enhance financial access for grassroots customers, for example, the Digital Supply Chain Financing initiative. 5) Build future-ready capabilities: This involved a partnership with Fidelity International to enhance our wealth management services, a partnership with Accenture to continuously develop financial technologies and innovation to navigate the financial business landscape in the future, and the establishment of Krungthai Ventures to make strategic investments and drive new growth. Additionally, we have partnered with AIS and PTTOR to apply for a virtual banking license, leveraging their unique data and ecosystems to complement our own. This collaboration strengthens our capabilities and enhances our potential through providing virtual banking services. 6) Upgrade core technology infrastructure: An example of this is the use of public and private clouds to support the Bank’s business operations. 7) Transform culture: embed new ways of working to drive organization agility. This includes upskilling and reskilling our employees, the Wolf Hack initiative promoting agile working models and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), and the partnerships with Accenture through the joint venture Arise and with IBM through the joint venture IBMDT to foster digital talent and attract high-potential innovators to work with the Bank and be a key driving force propelling the Bank toward becoming a digital organization.

As for the economic outlook, the Thai economy will continue to face challenges despite gradual economic expansion following tourism recovery, investment inflows as a result of global supply chain shifts, and the government’s ongoing policies stimulating the economy and investment. However, overall economic growth potential will be lower than in the past and be exposed to heightened domestic and international risks. These include geopolitical and geoeconomic risks, particularly a new wave of trade wars, which could increase risks for the global economy, international trade, and Thailand’s exports, while also leading to an influx of Chinese goods flooding both the Thai market and Thailand’s export markets. Additionally, there are risks stemming from climate change and the green transition, the intensifying shift toward an aging society, technological disruptions-especially AI technology, which is set to completely transform business operations and work processes-and more complex cyber threats. Furthermore, there are longstanding structural issues, including a large informal economy, high household debt, high inequality, and businesses lacking competitiveness due to their inability to adapt to global shifts. Meanwhile, the government faces budget constraints and increasing public debt. These factors are pushing the economy toward an inflection point that demands urgent reforms across multiple dimensions.

To navigate these changes and challenges impacting our business operations, prepare for future business opportunities, and ensure that we can address the evolving needs of all stakeholders efficiently and swiftly in an increasingly challenging global environment, Krungthai Bank is committed to driving the organization under the theme of “Corporate Value Creation: Enhancing Skills, Creating Value for the Future” in 2025. This will be achieved by fostering in-depth and comprehensive learning among employees, ensuring their readiness to overcome challenges with a growth mindset, and encouraging continuous learning to enhance their skills and capabilities in digital literacy. This will empower them to apply emerging technologies to enhance their work and adapt to new work processes and business models that better serve customer needs. In addition, we will strengthen our competitiveness, add economic value, use resources efficiently, reduce costs and risks, and ensure that we address needs and deliver value to all stakeholders, including customers, the Thai people, and Thai businesses. Our goal is to solidify Krungthai Bank’s leadership position while advancing sustainability across all dimensions, ensuring stable and resilient growth in the long term. Additionally, we remain dedicated to helping customers resolve household debt issues, supporting Thai individuals and SMEs in breaking free from debt cycles and achieving sustainable improvements in their quality of life, in alignment with the Bank of Thailand’s Responsible Lending Guidelines. We will also collaborate with partners, leveraging the strengths of each partner in data technology and ecosystems to empower the underserved populations. This is aimed at reducing economic disparity, addressing the challenges of the informal economy, and driving revenue growth through new customer segments, particularly the underserved and SMEs. This initiative will serve as a new growth engine in Krungthai Bank’s beyond-banking business models in the future.

For our 2025 strategic direction, we have reviewed and streamlined our seven strategic focuses into five strategic focuses. This revision enhances clarity, coherence, and relevance in a rapidly evolving domestic and global economic landscape, ensuring our readiness to compete in the new era. The five strategic focuses are structured around three key components:

1. Outcomes
1.1 Unlock disproportionate value from our current ecosystems: This encompasses strengthening the X2G2X strategy to create deep linkage across customer segments, including B2B, B2C, G2B, and G2C, and developing a platform that meets the needs of our customers’ business partners by offering total solutions that integrate products and services of both Krungthai Bank and our subsidiaries, collectively as One Krungthai.
1.2 Launch new growth platforms for the future: This is to comprehensively meet customer needs, enhance financial accessibility across all social strata, and offer services beyond traditional banking, such as wealth-tech, virtual banking, and banking-as-a-service. This also includes the development of ESG- and sustainability-driven products.

2. Enablers
2.1 Upgrade the way we interact and serve our clients: This encompasses introducing new approaches to end-to-end services, making them more modern, fast, secure, and integrated. Additionally, we increase the efficiency of our internal processes by implementing process digitization to deliver targeted solutions for both individual and business customers through various online and offline channels (O2O), tailored to their needs. This also includes refining operating models to ensure the effective implementation of policies.

3. Foundation
3.1 Future proof core technology infrastructure and data capabilities: This is to support our commitment to delivering best-in-class products and services, enhancing customer trust, and strengthening data analytics capabilities to gain customer insights and offer personalized banking through various channels. Moreover, we will develop a knowledge base on AI and leverage it appropriately and cost-efficiently.
3.2 Transform culture and embed new ways of working:

We are confident that by executing these strategic focuses, we will successfully fulfill our mission and key objectives, adding value to the Bank and ensuring optimal returns for all stakeholders. This will be achieved through revenue growth, efficient cost management, the integration of technology to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness, growth of the underserved and SME segments, and growth of businesses that align with global megatrends, while maintaining robust risk management.

We extend our sincere gratitude to all our shareholders, customers, and business partners for trusting us, being confident in us, and supporting us in fulfilling our mission, enhancing our capabilities, boosting our potential, and being a key mechanism in empowering Thai people and Thai businesses to have a better life, as in our vision-Growing Together for Sustainability. Most importantly, we would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to our Board of Directors and employees, whose relentless efforts and commitment to continuous improvement drive success and add value to Krungthai Bank. In 2025, with the execution of the five strategic focuses, we are confident that we are ready to lead Thailand’s commercial banking sector and address the needs of all stakeholders. Meanwhile, we uphold our commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles. We will continue to advance financial technology and innovation by developing cutting-edge financial products and services across all channels. Our goal is to create opportunities for Thai individuals and businesses, improving their quality of life in an inclusive and equitable manner. Furthermore, we are dedicated to building an organization that concretely enhances skills and creates value for the future-becoming a pillar of Thailand’s economy that stands alongside the Thai people and driving sustainable value for Krungthai Bank.

Mr. Payong Srivanich
Chief Executive Officer