The Bank of Thailand (BoT) kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.25% today, as expected. The upswing will probably be sluggish, but the BoT did start to prime the markets to expect rates to move up in 2010. We still forecast that a first hike will come around mid-year. Bangkok stocks could well surprise on the upside over the next six months or so, while the baht should rise further too.