The worst political violence in nearly two decades will have a severe impact on Thai tourism, but the economy should recover quickly if stability is maintained, the nation's finance minister said Friday.

Thailand's $264 billion economy, Southeast Asia's second-biggest, had been expanding rapidly, when anti-government protesters started a mass rally in Bangkok in mid-March.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij, on a visit to Tokyo, said the nation had to rebuild confidence at home and with international investors.

[Korn Chatikavanij, Thai Finance Minister]:
"I don't see international investors leaving Thailand, but at the margin, definitely, as I speak today, I think foreign investors may decide to go elsewhere or delay their decisions on investing in Thailand. That's natural and to be expected."

Thailand will announce economic growth for the first quarter on Monday, and Korn said first quarter growth hit double-digit expansion.

Korn said the unrest had already cut growth by half a percentage point, while the state planning agency put the impact of the turmoil a $3 billion.

[Korn Chatikavanij, Thai Finance Minister]:
"I think what we need to be able to convince investors of is that the kind of conflict that played out will not happen again."

Japanese firms, Thailand's biggest investors, have expressed concern, with Toyota and Honda suspending some production during the unrest.