National —
On September 9th, 2024, Mrs. Thaniwan Kulmongkol, the president of the Thai Restaurant Association, expressed concern over the continued slump in consumer spending in the restaurant industry, with overall sales falling below 50%.
Thaniwan urged the Thai government to provide more detailed explanations in its 10 urgent policies, rather than vague outlines. She supported measures to assist SMEs, particularly in addressing the issue of cheap imported goods flooding the market, which now includes foreign businesses competing with Thai restaurants and the TEMU Chinese application.
Furthermore, Thaniwan emphasized the need for the Thai government to listen to affected businesses and enforce laws strictly.
The Thai Restaurant Association has three urgent requests for the government:
- Reconsider the nationwide minimum wage increase to 400 baht, set to begin on October 1st, through the tripartite committee mechanism, as this could further burden businesses.
- Reduce or cap energy costs, such as electricity bills.
- Accelerate the disbursement of the 2024-2025 budget to circulate funds into the economy, boosting consumer spending quickly.
Thaniwan highlighted that the restaurant industry’s purchasing power remains weak, with some regions, like the North and Northeast, seeing even steeper declines. She hopes the government’s upcoming planned 10,000-baht digital wallet distribution in September will stimulate spending, and urged the government to allow these funds to be used in all sorts of restaurants, not just big brands with lots of resources, but also small mom-and-pop style shops.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.
