The concerns were aired at the committee’s monthly meeting on Wednesday, which aimed to discuss the current situation in Thailand’s three core sectors: industry, commerce, and banking.
Kriengkrai Thiennukul, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said that this year’s Songkran festival would witness a big increase in the number of Thai and foreign tourists nationwide. However, he was worried that the spending would not be commensurate with the surge in participants.
Citing numbers from last year, when one-third of Thais had lost their spending power while spending by foreign tourists fell by approximately 6-7%, he said that he could not expect a big improvement this year either.
He explained that a high number of attendees could help boost revenue contribution to the economy from this festival. However, given the current slowdown, particularly in the domestic economy, where exports are weak, consumption is low, and businesses are shrinking, he believes people will celebrate the festival but in a frugal way.
Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry announced on Tuesday plans to host a special grand celebration of the Songkran festival, the traditional Thai New Year.
The festival, dubbed “Yen Tua La Maha Songkran” or “Maha Songkran World Water Festival 2024”, will be extended from three days (April 13-15) to cover most of April.