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Published on April 9, 2008

A University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) survey of 1,209 respondents showed that 20.9 per cent of all revellers - compared to 14.3 per cent last year - were planning overseas trips. The average per-capita budget for such trips is Bt52,187 against Bt55,000 last year, while that for domestic travel is expected to rise from Bt2,904 to Bt4,878.

Thai AirAsia chief executive officer Tassapon Bejleveld said the airline was fully booked for Macau and Singapore over the holiday period.

Chatchawal Supaachayanont, Eastern Region president of the Thai Hotels Association, said that as foreign travel was as cheap as local travel, more people had booked overseas tour packages and many local destinations such as Pattaya may not fully benefit from the long holiday break.

"The stronger baht against major currencies is encouraging Thais to go overseas," said Chatchawal.

While the UTCC survey showed that expected spending is 4.52 per cent higher than last year's Bt92 billion, the Domestic Travel Association expects the number of domestic travellers to grow by 10 per cent. Association president Charoen Wangananon said this would represent a sizeable increase, as last year posted a 5-per-cent drop due to political instability.

Thanavath Phonvichai, director of the UTCC's Economic and Business Forecasting Centre, said the higher expected spending was both a result of more confidence in the political situation and the economic stimulus package. However, the annualised growth rate is small due to higher goods prices, which have led to concern over people's future income.

During Songkran last year, consumer spending grew 3.94 per cent, and in 2006 by 10.15 per cent.

In the UTCC survey of 1,206 respondents, 42.8 per cent said their spending would increase due to rising goods prices and transportation costs, 47.4 per cent said spending would remain unchanged, and only 9.8 per cent said they would reduce their spending due to an uncertain economic future.

Saowanee Thairungroj, vice president of the university's Research Division, said it was worrisome that people were planning to finance their holidays by using savings, instead of salaries as was the case last year.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai,

Suchat Sritama

The Nation