Thailand’s Kasikorn Research Centre (KResearch) predicts that this year’s spending during the famous Songkran festival will hit its lowest in five years.
KResearch has unveiled its latest survey conducted on people living in Bangkok, saying that more than 65 percent of Bangkokians would rather spend the upcoming vacation at home. The survey indicated that they have no plans of visiting their hometowns due to transportation difficulties caused by the ongoing political protests, coupled with the fact that the purchasing power of Thais have dropped. Therefore, it is predicted that the overall spending during the Songkran holiday will be around 22 billion baht, which is a 13.7 percent decrease compared to last year. The 22 billion baht cash flow also represents the lowest spending in the last five years.
When asked about what they would do during Songkran, the majority of the respondents answered they would celebrate with their family and friends, and the rest would either go to either temples or shopping venues.
