Thailand tourism changed forever

Last week the Thai government Minister’s speech shows me that tourism will never be allowed to recover to previous levels. The writing is definitely on the wall, windows and front door, that there has been a major policy shift in government thinking by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s Cabinet.

In a deeply worrying development for Thailand’s massive Travel & Tourism industry, which last year generated a huge B2.2 trillion of income (US$55.2 billion), and accounted for 20% of GNP and 10% of all jobs in Thailand, the Deputy PM Supattanapong Punmeechaow said that the country relied too much on tourism and that this was “unacceptable”.

This must be as worrying for property developers as well as investors. If the 39 million tourists that Thailand received last year in 2019, is never to be repeated, why do we need to continue building and investing in new hotels?

According to Thailand’s Nation newspaper, Deputy PM Supattanapong Punmeechaow admitted that the COVID-19 outbreak had exposed cracks and faults in the Thai economy.

“The Covid-19 outbreak that hit Thailand since April has exposed the fragility of the economy and shed light on the fact that we rely too much on export and tourism,” the Minister said.

This is certainly a departure from what the Minister was saying back in August. The deputy PM, who also holds the Energy portfolio, announced then the formation of a new economic panel, and boasted that the new economic committee will boost tourism and employment. He said the panel agreed to increase subsidies for local tourists and create 1 million jobs in the near future to combat growing unemployment.

Supattanapong Punmeechaow the deputy PM is cleary worried about putting too many eggs in one basket and spreading the risk. However it maybe too early to start walking away from tourism when other industries are simple not ready to take up the slack. Infrastructure improvements; legal reforms, changes in corporate ownership regulations and reduced bureaucracy are just a few of the changes the chambers of commerce have been asking for and must be in place BEFORE we start to cook the goose that lays gold bullion on the floor of the vault in the bank.

The Deputy PM who was speaking last week at the “Restart Thailand 2021” dinner talk held at Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok said, “The outbreak has had an especially heavy impact on small and medium businesses, prompting the government to spend over B800bn on SME aid measures including postponing debt repayment worth over B6.8trn for 12 million SMEs,” he said. “However, from July onwards, economic indicators have been pointing toward an improving trend thanks to cooperation from all parties in outbreak prevention, despite some minor impact from the political situations.

“The tourism industry has shown improvement, with about 30% occupation, jumping from just 6% in April, thanks to the government’s economic stimulus campaigns such as the ‘Let’s Go Halves’ shopping subsidy,” he added.

“Through the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation, the government is also planning to provide an additional B150bn in loans to help small and medium businesses.

Read the full article at The Phuket News: https://www.thephuketnews.com/thailand-tourism-changed-forever-78395.php
Proudly contributed by Andrew J. Wood
Photo: Photo: The Thaiger

Tags: COVID-19 impact, economic impact, Thailand, Tourism #TourismMekong

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