A surging dollar will be good for tourists, helping revive Pattaya, but inflation continues to cause worries.
The weaker baht is expected to boost the Thai economy and increase real gross domestic income this year by 0.4%, but not all sectors will reap the benefits.
Increasing prices for imported raw materials and energy are pushing inflation to years-high levels. But tourists exchanging dollars for baht and Thai exporters will benefit.
While the baht is plunging against the dollar – it closed Friday at 35.65 to the greenback – there hasn’t been the depreciation against other currencies, such as the British pound.
Piti Disyatat, head of the Bank of Thailand, Monetary Policy Group, said the baht will continue to weaken until the central bank begins to raise interest rates. The gap between continually higher U.S. and record-low Thai interest rates has fueled the depreciation.
Pattaya Business & Tourism Association President Boonanan Pattanasin said the removal of Thailand’s last coronavirus restrictions July 1 will spur more international arrivals, especially from the Middle East, India, Singapore, and Europe.
He expects four and five-star hotels to benefit most.
Pattaya also will benefit from long holiday weekends in July, he said.
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