Growth will also be hit. Gross domestic product (GDP) may even have shrunk in the first quarter, and there’s likely worse to come.
Tourism, long a crutch that the kingdom could fall back upon in lean years, is hurting and never really recovered from the pandemic. If the war lasts six months, receipts stand to fall by 10 per cent, reckons the government, and millions fewer will visit than forecast. Bars and clubs in the capital’s normally buzzing district of Sukhumvit were fairly quiet last weekend, with reservations at rooftop watering holes easy to come by, even for a large group.
To make matters worse, Thailand is one of the countries hardest hit by a severe heatwave scorching the southern reaches of Asia. On Saturday (May 2), the temperature in downtown Bangkok soared, which made for heavy going on the cricket field for my team visiting from Singapore.
One sign showed the mercury at 45 degrees. Authorities have urged the public to skip many outdoor activities. They’ve also taken steps to reduce power bills, ordering public buildings to ease up on air-conditioning and encouraging people to work from home – and in shirt sleeves and clothes made from light material. In practice, this is very hard to get right. Air-conditioning in hotels works overtime, even when you want the room just a little above frigid.
Domestic gas production, which was promising in the 1970s and 80s, has stagnated, and the country has been slow to embrace renewable energy. It’s high time that Thailand looked to the sun for more power.
