UTCC predicts 45.9bn baht spending for Vegetarian Festival this month
UTCC forecasts 45.9bn baht in spending during the Vegetarian Festival from October 21–29, up 2% from last year, as Thais remain cautious on expenses.
The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has estimated that spending during this year’s Vegetarian Festival will reach 45.903 billion baht.
UTCC rector Thanawat Pholwichai, who also serves as director of the university’s Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting (CEBF), said spending during the festival — from October 21 to 29 — is expected to increase by only 2% from last year’s level of 45.003 billion baht.
Thanawat said spending by worshippers and tourists is likely to rise only slightly, as most Thais remain cautious about their expenses.
Moreover, the government’s “Let’s Go Halves” stimulus scheme will begin too late to boost festival spending, starting on October 29, the final day of the event.
The projection is based on an opinion survey conducted by the CEBF among 1,272 respondents between October 6 and 12.
Umakamol Sunthornsurat, assistant director of the centre, said 66% of respondents reported they do not eat vegetarian food.
Meanwhile, 73.9% of respondents expected the prices of vegetarian dishes to rise this year.
She added that 7.1% of respondents plan to make pilgrimages to sacred sites following Chinese traditions, spending an average of 5,000 baht per person per trip, and donating around 1,746 baht per person to make merit.
Umakamol noted that 52.8% of respondents said they would buy the same quantity of vegetarian food as last year, while 47% planned to spend roughly the same amount of money as in 2024.
