Thailand’s consumer confidence drops to 8-month low on domestic economic worries

Thailand’s consumer confidence dropped to its 8-month low in May despite recent tax reforms that aimed to bolster consumption. This is mainly due to the country’s ongoing economic worries that are throttling its economic and consumer confidence.

The consumer confidence index fell to 72.6 in May, lowest since past eight months. It came in at 72.7 in the previous month, data released by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce showed on Thursday. This comes from a majority vote of 2,248 voters across the country.

Factors that worried consumers are the country’s drought conditions amid a global economic recovery and a fall in exports. This is despite the military government’s approval in April of a plan to raise the country’s personal monthly and annual income tax thresholds, introduced to boost consumption ahead of a referendum in August on whether to approve the current junta’s proposed constitution.

Meanwhile, huge pile of household debt is likely to exert further pressure on the country’s economic and consumer sentiment.

Consumer prices in Thailand recovered recently with May marking the second consecutive month of growth for the official consumer price index after 15 consecutive months of falling prices, data showed.

According to a recent data released by the central bank in May, private consumption fell compared to the same period a year ago while private investment stood unchanged.