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– Right now I take one day at a time, he says Namfon Yarnjajak who works in a bar on the touristy island of Phuket. In normal cases, you earn at least 20,000 baht per month, which corresponds to around 5,600 SEK.
The pandemic has caused Thailand to shut down its entire tourism industry. When it happened, the Namfon bar also works closed, the guests were foreign tourists who now do not enter the country and therefore have no customers. But Namfon says he’s been lucky. Your employer pays a small salary, which means that you usually have money for food.
Namfon normally sends money to his family in northern Thailand, where his son lives with Namfon’s mother. Now you have no money to send.
– It feels horrible not being able to send money to my son. But I can’t do anything so I have to try to do this. At the same time, my family depends on me sending money. I do my best and as soon as I have a little extra money I try to send it, says Namfon.
Namfon is just one of the millions of Thais who lost their income and were badly affected by the pandemic. Ans Sukris for many years he has run companies in the tourism industry in Phuket. So far, it has been forced to close one of its three companies and is in the process of cutting costs at the two it still has.
– It is important to save what can be saved, says Ans. You need to ditch the bank loans and sell assets and make sure you get cash, then gradually downsize companies from heavyweight to heavyweight, he says.
Thailand’s tourism industry accounts for nearly 20 percent of the country’s GDP. At present, it is difficult to know how much financial damage the pandemic has caused. It is clear that this is the biggest crisis since the so-called Asian financial crisis of 1997.
Thanawat Polvichai is president of the Chamber of Commerce of Thailand. He says that this time it is really difficult because all the countries in the world have been affected and there will be fierce competition in all areas when the pandemic ends.
Thanawat says that even before the pandemic, there was a big problem in the Thai economy. Growth has slowed for several years and public confidence in how the former military junta and the now-elected government run the economy has declined every day.
Whether you are a farmer or an entrepreneur so it has been hit by the deterioration of the economy and damages confidence in economic policy, says Thanawat. Overall confidence is even lower than before the pandemic, and people are still worried about their income, finances, and future job opportunities. But there is a slight glow in sight, the government’s continued easing of coronary restrictions is helping to increase the chance of economic recovery, says Thanawat of the Thailand Chamber of Commerce.
Thailand’s economy has been poorly managed for several years. After the military seized power in a coup in 2014, the country’s economy, according to Thai economists, has been run in a way that has benefited the military and not the export industry and the important agricultural sector. . At the same time, central government debt has increased dramatically and consumption and investment have been low. The defense budget increased dramatically and the costs of subsidies and subsidies to poor households skyrocketed.
Thailand has long been part of the so-called Asian economic miracle, but it has had one of the lowest growth rates in Southeast Asia since the 2010s. Thanawat of the Thailand Chamber of Commerce says it’s hard to say when will rebound the Thai economy as the corona pandemic continues.
Thailand’s difficult economic situation has now prompted investors in the tourism industry to start looking for other industries. There is already talk of wanting to save Phuket from economic collapse by attracting foreign universities to invest in education and invest more in lucrative medical tourism.
– As it is now, it has turned out that it is not so smart to put all your eggs in the tourist basket, he says. Sukrit Years, businessman in Phuket.
What Ans says shows that many Thai investors no longer trust the authorities in Bangkok to solve the economic crisis without having to take matters into their own hands.
Namfon, who works in a bar in Phuket, says he has no choice but to wait for the pandemic to pass and hopes that tourists will return soon so that he can start making money again and can start sending money to his family in the village. .
– We follow the development every day, right now we live on hope, says Namfon.
