Thailand's historically high household debt puts dampener on recovery

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.