Thailand's historically high household debt puts dampener on recovery

Published Thu, Dec 2, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Bangkok

THAILAND'S economic recovery in 2022 and 2023 hinges not just on the return of international tourism receipts, but also an uptick in consumer spending - which is looking unlikely, given the country's historically high level of household debt as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, economists have warned.

While optimism about a swift return of foreign visitors to Thailand after the country reopened its doors to fully-vaccinated tourists on Dec 1 have been slightly dimmed by the recent outbreak of the new virus variant Omicron, the pessimism about consumption is much closer to home.

Thailand's household debt hit a 18-year high of 14.13 trillion baht (S$571.1 billion) in the first 3 months of 2021, or 90.6 per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP); that makes it the highest level among developing coun…