(Adds comment, details)
* Jan output -1.31 pct y/y, down a 22nd straight month
* Reuters poll projected Jan output -0.65 pct y/y
* Car production rises, but that of hard-drives tumbles
* Jan capacity utilisation 60.87 pct vs Dec revised 59.77 pct
BANGKOK, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Thai factory output fell for a 22nd straight month in January, providing further evidence that the economy continues to struggle.
Nine months after the army seized power to end political unrest, the military government has been unable to get Thailand's two major growth engines - exports and domestic demand - into a higher gear.
On Friday, the Industry Ministry said factory output in January fell 1.31 percent from a year earlier, twice the 0.65 percent drop forecast in a Reuters poll.
January's result extended the streak during which output has been lower on an annual basis to 22 months. The latest fall reflects still-stumbling exports, which unexpectedly contracted 3.5 percent in January from a year earlier.
Santitarn Sathirathai, senior economist with Credit Suisse in Singapore, said the streak of declines is worrying as it indicates structural problems and "it's a sign Thailand is losing competitiveness in some of the key manufacturing sectors".
Thailand is a regional hub and export base for global automakers. In one January bright spot, car production had an annual increase in 19 months, a 2.3 percent rise, the ministry said.
HARD TIMES FOR HARD-DRIVES
Still, that gain is from a low January 2014 base, due to political tensions, and domestic car sales last month declined 13 percent from a year earlier.
Production of hard-drives, another key export, fell 9.6 percent from a year earlier while electrical output dropped 14 percent. The ministry blamed falls for electrical appliances and air conditioners on weak demand from Europe, Japan and the Middle East.
As commodity prices and global demand are likely to remain soft this year, Thailand's export and production sectors will weigh on the economy, putting more pressure on the government to ramp up infrastructure spending to shore up growth.
Exports shrank in both 2013 and 2014, and the central bank predicts they will increase only 1 percent this year.
Later on Friday, the Bank of Thailand is expected to report still weak private consumption, which makes up half of the economy, and private investment for January.
January's capacity utilisation in industry was 60.87 percent, up slightly from a revised 59.77 percent in December.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon and Pairat Temphairojana; Editing by Richard Borsuk)