Bangkok center on January 2nd.
Photographer: Jack Taylor / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Jack Taylor / AFP / Getty Images
Thailand’s economic conditions are expected to deteriorate further this year as the country struggles with the resurgence of the coronavirus, according to a national survey.
About 52.2% of respondents in the study by the National Institute of Development Administration, based in Bangkok, predict that the economy will be even worse in 2021 than last year, while 14.6% anticipate an improvement.
At the same time, Covid-19’s impact could be even more deadly than in 2020, according to 48.1% of the 1,326 respondents in the survey conducted between 24 and 25 December. Only 28.8% expect it to be less serious, the institute said in a statement released on Sunday. Respondents were Thai aged 18 and above.
Thailand is about to impose a new set of restrictions on business and meetings in 28 of its most affected provinces as of Monday to contain the latest outbreak of an outbreak that has infected more than 3,000 people since mid-December. Bangkok, a city with more than 10 million inhabitants, has already closed deals such as pubs, bars, gyms and other entertainment venues, in addition to schools closed until the end of the month.
The central bank, at its December policy meeting, said that gross domestic product it probably shrank 6.6% in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic. On the same date, the forecast for this year was cut to 3.2% growth, compared to a previous estimate of 3.6%.
Thailand reported 315 new cases of viruses on Sunday, with 294 of them transmitted locally, according to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The nation’s total number of cases rose to 7,694, with the capital Bangkok and the provinces of Samut Sakhon and Rayong as the main critical points.
Samut Sakhon has reported 541 new cases in the past 24 hours, mainly among migrant workers, the Kaohoon newspaper reported, citing the province’s public relations office on Sunday. His latest count was released after national numbers were announced earlier in the day.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha has refrained from imposing a national blockade again, saying the country could contain the recent outbreak. Still, the rise in infections is likely to delay plans to reopen the country to tourism, with a state of emergency in place across the country to allow authorities to quickly impose restrictions if necessary.
‘Strong medicine’
Authorities are not pushing for uniform restrictions across the country as they seek to minimize the impact on the community, said Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, spokesman for the Center’s Situation Administration for Covid-19, at a news conference on Sunday. Provincial authorities will be allowed to impose “tailor-made measures” to contain the outbreak, he said.
“Even though we know we need a strong drug today, it has many side effects,” said Taweesilp. “We learned our lessons from using strong doses in all areas previously. Those who suffer most are normal people who try to live their lives. “
Thailand may face additional obstacles to revive its economy from a recurrence of anti-government measures protests, according to a survey by the institute. While nearly 77% of respondents said they expected the political situation to continue to be chaotic or to get worse, 43.2% of respondents predicted that pro-democracy protests would occur again this year.
(Updates with research details in the third paragraph.)