Thailand Spending slump hits direct sales – The direct-sales industry is expected to grow by 5% to about Bt73.5bn this year, down by half from the norm over the past decade, says the Thai Direct Selling Association. President Kittawat Ritteerawee said the slowdown in consumer spending in the sector has been evident since the first […]

Energy/resources were finally a support for the market last week. But the main theme remains that foreign investors are still selling out of Thailand and the region as a whole. This week the only interesting thing is that the Ministry of Finance is meeting, however we doubt anything will happen except for further downgrades on […]

Thailand Car scheme blamed for slow growth — Narongchai Akrasanee, a member of the BoT’s MPC, estimates the country’s economy will grow by just 4% this year as domestic consumption ebbs. Thais’ ability to spend has been curbed, as many are obliged to service loans for cars bought under the government’s first-time car buyer scheme, […]

Thailand Household debt on upward tilt — Household debt has hit a fresh high, particularly among low income earnings, who remain widely exposed to loan sharks, says the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. The latest UTCC survey of 1,200 respondents found mot of them (64.l5%) had average household debt of Bt188,774.54, up by […]

 

Thailand Central bank throws red flag on loans — The BoT ramped up its warning that escalating household debt in recent years is posing a risk to the country’s financial stability and warrants close monitoring. BoT data shows household debt accelerated to 78% of GDP last year from 63% at the end of 2010. The […]