Songkran Festival Boosts Thai Economy by 140 Billion Baht

[webfact]

 

The Songkran Festival, celebrated between April 1-21, led to a significant economic upturn in Thailand, raking in revenue of 140.335 billion baht, which exceeded the Ministry of Tourism's initial estimate of 132 billion baht. The numbers were shared by the country's Minister of Tourism and Sports, Sudawan Wangsupakitkosol.

 

A total of 1,926,443 international tourists partook in the festival, contributing 90.208 billion baht to Thailand's economy.

 

Local tourism also thrived with 13,897,988 domestic trips adding another 50.127 billion baht. The highest revenue on a five-day count from April 12-16 was 38.034 billion baht, marking a 37.54% spike from last year. Relaxed visa rules, abolished TM.6 forms, and government schemes fueled this surge.

 

The mix of tourists was diverse, with visitors mostly from China, Malaysia, India, Russia, South Korea, Laos, the UK, Taiwan, USA, and Indonesia. Chinese tourists alone recorded an 89.16% surge compared to the previous year.

 

The festival revenue largely streamed from various segments. Accommodation costs totaled to 42.069 billion baht, food and beverages followed with 33.069 billion, souvenir and merchandise costs were 26.839 billion, transportation expenses were 15.505 billion, while entertainment costs were 14.758 million. Tourist services amounted to 5.865 million, with 2.230 million baht spent on miscellaneous expenses.

 

Songkran. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

-- 2024-04-27

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[save the frogs]

you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

a few violent incidents, but that's a lot of moolah.

[daveAustin]

Dunno how they work this out vs how many foreigners are already holidaying here and burning money but, regardless, and many will disagree, IMO Songkran is the best of Thailand. Other cultures have their festivals; La Tomatina in Valencia is fantastic and then there's Divali and Rio etc etc. But there's only one Songkran. The boomers will disagree of course. 🤣

[Jumbo1968]

Quote

 

That’s great news, it will pay for the 10000 baht digital wallet scheme with out having to borrow the money for it.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A total of 1,926,443 international tourists partook in the festival, contributing 90.208 billion baht to Thailand's economy.

Really and how in the hell do you know that?

[StayinThailand2much]

6 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Dunno how they work this out vs how many foreigners are already holidaying here and burning money (...)

 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

The festival revenue largely streamed from various segments. Accommodation costs totaled to 42.069 billion baht, food and beverages followed with 33.069 billion (...)

 

It's simple, they just assumed that each tourist (all singles, obviously) spent 1,000 baht on accommodation per night, and 800 baht per day on food and beverages...

Edited April 27 by StayinThailand2much

[jacko45k]

It didn't help the water reserves which, now that Songkran is over, are a serious worry... and may result in the loss of.... some squillions of baht too.