BANGKOK, 30 January 2014 Up to 5.8 billion baht is expected to circulate during the Chinese New Year festival, representing a 4 percent rise year-on-year.
According to Kasikorn Research Center (KResearch), this year’s spending will be affected by the country’s rising household debts and the current political impasse, the two factors attributing to domestic spending slowdown. The center expects around 5.8 billion baht to change hands during the special occasion, a 4 percent year-on-year increase from 2013; when the country saw domestic spending jump as high as 6 percent compared to the same period of the year before.
This year’s spenders, mostly Thais of Chinese descent, are expected to spend approximately 3,600 baht per person on offerings such as meat, vegetables, fruit, candles and incense sticks, as well as joss paper.
