Thailand fears consequences for tourism due to Brexit
The UK's departure from the EU also has implications for Thailand. The country expects consequences for trade, diplomacy and especially for tourism from Europe. The fall of the pound and the depreciation of the euro is expected to deter Europeans from traveling to Thailand.
Last year, 5,6 million tourists from Europe traveled to Thailand: 25 percent of all foreign tourists. Among Europeans, the United Kingdom topped the list with 946.000 tourists. In April of this year, 81.455 Britons arrived, which is three percent of the total.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has calculated that the number of Britons will fall by 1 to 5 percent if the value of the pound falls by 3 to 10 percent. If the euro falls in value between 5 and 20 percent, the number of visitors from the euro zone will fall by 5 percent.
TAT governor Yuthasak expects the number of tourists from Finland, Germany, Italy and Spain to decrease by 10 percent. The number of visitors from France and the Netherlands is also experiencing the consequences of Brexit. When the currency settles again in one to three months, he expects a recovery.
On the Thai stock market, Brexit led to panic selling, just like elsewhere in the world. Many investors turned to safe investments such as gold. The SET index lost 23,21 points and ended 0,5 points lower than a week ago. 88,2 billion baht was traded, twice as much as the daily average. The baht fell 0,4 percent against the dollar to 35,247 before recovering slightly to 35,28.
Trade minister Apiradi is not concerned about the 5 percent export target that the ministry has set for this year. Trade with England accounts for only 2 percent of total foreign trade.
Source: Bangkok Post
'If the euro depreciates by 5 to 20 percent, the number of visitors from the Eurozone will decrease by 5 percent and if the euro 'settles down again' within 1 to 3 months (i.e. at -20%, for example) remains standing??) recovery is expected.'
So if the euro does not settle down after four months, but recovers, there will be no recovery?
Coffee factory on the level of Octopus Paul, Turtle Cabeceao and Frits de Fret.
The Japanese yen is rising like a comet. That means a danger to the economy there and the Asia region is now again on the radio. And Thailand's figures have not been very good lately. I'm glad I'm not an economist. Because economists who even went to the same school express completely different opinions than their schoolmates. It is good to see that a few financial institutions such as Standard and Poor determine whether something goes up or down. Gold prices will continue to rise. That is good news for many Thai who are in gold.
Moderator: Please do not chat.
Panic reactions…..within two weeks no one will talk about it again and it will be business as usual….by the way the pound was at 48.50 today and 50.5 yesterday The Euro goes from 39.40 to 38.90 at TT Exchanges…..I already have worse fluctuations experienced even if nothing specific happened.
Furthermore, the European tourists are still a minority in Thailand ... The Russians and the Chinese are the new tourists who have money.
You mean the Chinese and the Indians…. The Russians are staying away en masse since the ruble has lost 40% in value!
Compared to Dollar and Baht, the Euro has only dropped 2%, that will not stop me.
That's because the Thai can't look a day ahead (ok, that's a bit cynical, but it touches the core).
Of course this has influence. Just not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. In 10, 15 or 20 years. The question is whether we can (or want to) attribute it exclusively to Brexit. But it is certain that the British economy will be worse off. Mr Farage and Johnson will blame “Brussels”, the opposition will blame the government and vice versa. Pretty after Bill Maher I say; 48% voted with their brains, 52% with their guts.
Lariekoek, a few years ago the thai bath was at 50 for a euro, but in terms of inflation from the bath to the yen, this is more than 20% less. Thailand has become an expensive country and many people now also go to neighboring countries or the Philippines