Ten top businesses hit by coronavirus spread, damages could amount to Bt150 bn
Ten top businesses have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak and if it continues to spread even after three months, Thailand’s economy would witness damages to the tune of Bt150 billion, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) warned.
The top ten businesses include retail, hotels, restaurants and beverages, fruit-related, land transportation, meat, gems and jewellery, clothes, wholesale, and water transportation, UTCC Centre for International Trade Studies’ director Associate Professor Dr Aat Pisanwanich said.
“The level of economic damage has ranged from severest to lowest,” he added.
Aat said Thailand would lose more than Bt75 billion in the ten and other related businesses if the scourge ended in three months. “In this case, we would lose more than 1.5 million foreign tourists, including Chinese,” he said.
However, the damage would rise to Bt150 billion if the scourge period prolonged past three months. In addition, tourist arrivals would drop by 3 million in this case, he warned.
The director advised the government to help affected businesses by issuing remedial measures such as loan interest exemption, tax exemption for labourers working under government projects, and cheaper oil prices.
“Apart from assisting tourism businesses, the government should help those in the manufacturing, agricultural and labour sectors as well,” he suggested.
He also advised the government to build foreign tourists’ confidence by constantly updating them on the facts about the coronavirus and clamping down on fake news sharing.