Thailand: Smaller contraction for industry from stimulus

• Nov 25, 2020

Thailand’s retail industry is likely to see a lower contraction this year to 6% from the previously projected 7.8% fall, driven by a host of stimulus measures.

Voralak Tulaphorn, chief marketing officer of The Mall Group, said the co-payment programme, and the Shop and Payback tax rebate scheme, in particular, have helped boost consumers’ spending power since October.

The co-payment scheme allows registered individuals who make purchases at small shops to pay for only half, with the government subsidising the other 50% of the receipt.

The government pays for 50% of food, drink and general goods purchases of up to 150 baht per person per day, capped at 3,000 baht per person for the duration of the scheme.

The scheme started on Oct 23 and will end on Dec 31.

The Shop and Payback tax rebate scheme, which runs from Oct 23 to Dec 31, allows taxpayers to deduct up to 30,000 baht spent on certain goods and services on their personal income tax.

“We’ve found about 25% of our visitors used the tax rebate in the first ten days after the scheme’s launch. We expect the uptake will increase to 35%, partially stimulated by our sales campaigns and marketing events that are running until the year-end,” said Mrs Voralak.

Mrs Voralak said the dual spending stimulus packages have done quite well in boosting consumer spending, covering a broad range of eligible customer groups.

As more active promotions are rolled out this festive season through collaborations with partners such as mobile phone operators and banks, Mrs Voralak believes people will spend more as the year comes to a close.

“The festive season in 2020 will be special. We will see more colourful decorations in each retail area as well as more events,” said Mrs Voralak.

The year-end festive season is expected to see spending of more than 1 billion baht in shopping promotions to stimulate a spree including 400 million baht from Central Pattana, a SET-listed retail developer.

The Mall plans to spend 250 million baht in the fourth quarter of this year, significantly down from 400 million baht spent last year. The sum will mainly fund two marketing campaigns running from Nov 30 to Jan 6.

Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2024959/smaller-contraction-for-industry-from-stimulus