Downtown merchants urge gov’t to increase payout offerings

[snoop1130]

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - Merchants in the once bustling downtown neighborhood of Silom, are asking the government to provide a bigger allowance in its payout campaigns, as shops are now getting few customers.

 

Home to schools and many business offices, the once bustling Silom-Saladaeng neighborhood in downtown Bangkok has become deserted as the capital and the country deal with the biggest wave of COVID-19 yet.

 

With most office workers now working from home, and schools yet to reopen, shops and vendors in this area are now struggling to find customers. A merchant who has been selling here for a decade said today this crisis is the worst she has ever seen, with her revenue now down by almost 80%.

 

The merchant said her business was able to survive the first wave last year, as she had sufficient liquidity, and thanks to the government’s economic stimuli.

 

Not just vendors, but motorcycle taxi drivers in the area, who used to be busy transporting passengers along the road, are now left waiting for a passenger to show up.

 

These people now wish the government would provide more personal funding in its payout campaigns.

 

They say people are being more conscious than ever with their spending, as they don’t know when the crisis will end, however the 1,000 baht per week provided in payout campaigns does very little to encourage people to spend money.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-06-04

 

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[smedly]

there was a budget

 

where did it go ?

[Poet]

I can confirm, from my partner's business, selling throughout the country, that even the relatively limited levels of spending we've seen during the pandemic evaporated entirely last month.

Same goes for going out to restaurants, everywhere is dead.

It feels almost as if someone flicked a switch and everyone stopped spending.

I suspect that the total "tourism" spend stretched a lot further and into more families than the official numbers ever acknowledged.

My hunch is that the country is teetering on the edge of real problems.

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

These people now wish the government would provide more personal funding in its payout campaigns.

The pots empty lady... help yourself is the new message.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, smedly said:

there was a budget

 

where did it go ?

Dive dive dive?