BANGKOK (REUTERS) - Thailand's economy expanded grew 3.2 per cent in the third quarter from a year ago, the national planning agency said on Monday (Nov 21), slightly slower than expected, although exports showed early signs of recovery.

Growth was weaker than the 3.4 per cent median forecast in a in a Reuters poll of economists and less than 3.5 per cent in the April-June quarter.

Quarter on quarter, the economy expanded 0.6 per cent in the three months to September, compared with a downwardly revised 0.7 per cent growth in the second quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The National Economic and Social Development Board also said the economy would likely grow 3.2 per cent this year from a previous forecast range of 3.0-3.5 per cent.

The economy grew 2.8 per cent last year.

The agency now expects exports to be flat this year, rather than fall 1.9 per cent as forecast earlier.

Since seizing power in May 2014, Thailand's military government has struggled to revive Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy as exports and domestic demand remain weak.