Thai Restaurant Industry Faces Crisis as Purchases Plummet by 40%

[snoop1130]

Photo courtesy of Samurai Gourmet

 

Thailand's restaurant industry is grappling with a severe downturn, with consumer purchasing power plummeting by over 40% in early 2025, according to Thanivarn Kulmongkol, President of the Thai Restaurant Association. As economic recovery slows and incomes stagnate, consumers are prioritising savings over dining out, exacerbating financial strain on eateries.

 

This decline affects a wide range of establishments, from independent restaurants to food stalls in malls, all scrambling to stay competitive. With customer reluctance to purchase meals priced over 80 baht, many restaurants have resorted to slashing prices to 40-50 baht per dish.

 

Competition intensifies with the rise of Chinese-run "zero-dollar" restaurants offering cheap meals, putting additional pressure on local businesses. The industry, valued at 700 billion baht, is seeing frequent closures, underscoring the cutthroat market conditions.

 

 

 

A glimmer of hope lies in the upcoming Songkran festival, which traditionally boosts sales as families reunite to celebrate. Furthermore, the government plans to introduce a digital currency scheme, worth 10,000 baht, targeting young people. If successfully implemented, this could inject much-needed spending power into the economy.

 

However, the digital nature of the currency poses challenges, particularly in a market reliant on cash. Restaurants may hesitate to participate, potentially dampening the initiative's impact.

 

As restaurants await these potential lifelines, uncertainty remains. Whether Songkran festivities and digital currency can counteract the downturn is yet to be seen, as the industry continues to battle through challenging times, reported The Thaiger.

 

-- 2025-03-27

 

 

[scubascuba3]

It's a no brainer, lower the prices

[save the frogs]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

With customer reluctance to purchase meals priced over 80 baht,

I paid 100 baht for sticky rice and mango at a street stall. 

I guess I got ripped off. 

I'm still not sure what's worth what. 

 

[save the frogs]

14 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

It's a no brainer, lower the prices

did you ever run a restaurant?

ever heard of .... overhead expenses? 

[vikc]

 

Prices in touristy areas are soaring and serving size and quality drastically suffering.

For Example In 2019 T&K Seafood in Yaowarat were well priced with great tasting food. In 2022 the price increased slightly but the quality deteriorated significantly .  In 2024 the same trend continued with massive increase in price of dishes and quality worsened. This year I did not dare try them...

 

Whereas in Savoey the price has not risen too much, quality is just the same but the portions are a lot smaller.

Rising prices seems to be the trend all across Bangkok and high end places.

Good Buffets are a thing of the past as well.

In local stalls the price seems to be the same but the taste of food seems to be watered down. Portions again smaller.

The Cost of living /Inflation crisis seems to make this a catch 22 ...

 

Just my 2 cents as a regular visitor to Thailand over the years...

 

 

[ronnie50]

During the last couple of months I've noticed portion sizes were getting smaller at a couple of major Thai restauarant chains. I guess that's one way to respond to this. These are places where the average main course would be around 180-200 baht.

[ronnie50]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

It's a no brainer, lower the prices

My understanding is that the restaurant business is one of the hardest to turn a profit - in any country. Very slim profit margins. Lowering the price might mean going out of business as so many others routinely do. 

[Jim Blue]

The owners can't keep reducing portion sizes .......can they ????

[atpeace]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

It's a no brainer, lower the prices

and losing money doesn't seem like a good business plan.  You though would be happy 🙂

[kickstart]

Has anyone not noticed that they are a restaurant of some kind, on just about every street corner? known as supply and demand.

If they include all the coffee shops, the rate of going south, would be even higher.

100 baht for Mango and sticky rice expensive.

[Harrisfan]

I see some places very busy

[Celsius]

You know we're in trouble when the Thais stop eating.

 

What's next? Dropping auto sales?

 

The country is finished. 

[Cameroni]

This is not Thai specific. Globally restaurants have seen a downturn. Major US chains even had to close.

 

This is a symptom of the global poverty pandemic caused by all those people who supported lockdowns, inflation, higher energy prices etc.

 

If people have less, they eat out less.

[NorthernRyland]

I see much Thai food where I am being priced at 60 or 70 per plate. This was unheard of before COVID and wages have not increased this much. An extra 20 baht for ever meal is make or break for many people sadly.

[billd766]

The one thing that is not going up very much are the wages.

 

If the prices keep rising, but salaries don't. eating out at a restaurant will be a dying thing.

[Cameroni]

Many Americans cannot afford to buy fast food anymore. The day of the 1 Dollar menu is long gone. Prices have skyrocketed. 3 Fish burgers now cost 17 USD in the US.

 

The misery is global and is real.

[MalcolmB]

80 baht 

I doubt if I could cook a meal at home for that after buying all the ingredients?

Probably makes sense if I lived with 5+ people.

[NorthernRyland]

8 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

Many Americans cannot afford to buy fast food anymore. The day of the 1 Dollar menu is long gone. Prices have skyrocketed. 3 Fish burgers now cost 17 USD in the US.

 

The misery is global and is real.

 

Look what they did to us in the US. Thailand did something similar although not so dramatic. Surely COVID was a cover up for them to get away with this.

 

 

[Maxbkkcm]

1 hour ago, vikc said:

 

Prices in touristy areas are soaring and serving size and quality drastically suffering.

For Example In 2019 T&K Seafood in Yaowarat were well priced with great tasting food. In 2022 the price increased slightly but the quality deteriorated significantly .  In 2024 the same trend continued with massive increase in price of dishes and quality worsened. This year I did not dare try them...

 

Whereas in Savoey the price has not risen too much, quality is just the same but the portions are a lot smaller.

Rising prices seems to be the trend all across Bangkok and high end places.

Good Buffets are a thing of the past as well.

In local stalls the price seems to be the same but the taste of food seems to be watered down. Portions again smaller.

The Cost of living /Inflation crisis seems to make this a catch 22 ...

 

Just my 2 cents as a regular visitor to Thailand over the years...

 

 

what do you mean by no more good buffets? Still have japanese buffet 

[lordgrinz]

40 minutes ago, Celsius said:

You know we're in trouble when the Thais stop eating.

 

What's next? Dropping auto sales?

 

The country is finished. 

 

Next up mass-closings of megamalls.

[spidermike007]

If you're running a booming business I suppose you can get away with raising prices a bit, but it's never good idea to cut the portion sizes. Thais are very sensitive to this kind of thing, they love to eat and everybody notices a smaller portion. It's bad behavior and it's a good way to lose customers permanently. 

 

If your business is already struggling the last thing in the world you should be doing is raising your prices. There is no doubt the economy here is hurting and a lot of people are struggling to get by. 

[Dan O]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

It's a no brainer, lower the prices

You cant always do that. Market ingredient for restuarunts is up about 25% in the last year. We have a cafe in NST and can attest to the articles accuracy as far as suppressed spending.

 

The 10k baht deal is a waste of money on young people as it will be gone in a flash and there's no follow on revenue to maintain the spending level. its just smoke and mirrors to buy future votes

[Dan O]

1 hour ago, ronnie50 said:

My understanding is that the restaurant business is one of the hardest to turn a profit - in any country. Very slim profit margins. Lowering the price might mean going out of business as so many others routinely do. 

We have a cafe and Industry standard for restuarunts is a 5% profit margin and your doing good. They is not much wiggle room. Lowering prices doesn't help but put you out of business quickly. Ingredient cost are way up in the last year and a half. Its been my experience Thais are not the best with managing business in this environment as they never watch cash flow and often end up upside down

[MalcolmB]

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

I paid 100 baht for sticky rice and mango at a street stall. 

I guess I got ripped off. 

I'm still not sure what's worth what. 

 

You didn’t get ripped off.

 

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2025/03/17/thai-mango-sticky-rice-prices-to-stay-high-in-2025-says-kresearch/

[NorthernRyland]

Someone was confused with this graph so it needs some more explanation. This is the "M1" money supply in the US. From ChatGPT:

 

The M1 money supply is a measure of the most liquid forms of money in an economy. It represents the money that is immediately accessible for spending and transactions. M1 is the narrowest definition of money and typically includes:

    1.    Currency in Circulation: This includes paper money and coins that are held by the public.
    2.    Demand Deposits: Checking accounts that people can use to make payments with checks or electronic transfers.
    3.    Traveler’s Checks: Although less common today, they are included as part of M1.
    4.    Other Checkable Deposits (OCDs): These include deposits in institutions that offer check-writing privileges, such as NOW accounts (Negotiable Order of Withdrawal accounts).

 

THIS is the reason for the inflation, an increase the money supply available to consumers. Prices have gone up because the value of the currency has gone down. The inflation problem is 100% caused by government intervention.

 

[Cameroni]

6 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Someone was confused with this graph so it needs some more explanation. This is the "M1" money supply in the US. From ChatGPT:

 

The M1 money supply is a measure of the most liquid forms of money in an economy. It represents the money that is immediately accessible for spending and transactions. M1 is the narrowest definition of money and typically includes:

    1.    Currency in Circulation: This includes paper money and coins that are held by the public.
    2.    Demand Deposits: Checking accounts that people can use to make payments with checks or electronic transfers.
    3.    Traveler’s Checks: Although less common today, they are included as part of M1.
    4.    Other Checkable Deposits (OCDs): These include deposits in institutions that offer check-writing privileges, such as NOW accounts (Negotiable Order of Withdrawal accounts).

 

Prices for food away from home rose 27.2% since 2019 in the US according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[Cameroni]

MacDonalds has actually increased prices way beyond inflation. Their prices have increased by 100% over the last decade.

 

So considerably more than inflation.

 

in 2014 fries were about 1.48 USD according to location. Now 3.79 for medium fries at MacDonalds.

[NorthernRyland]

3 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

MacDonalds has actually increased prices way beyond inflation. Their prices have increased by 100% over the last decade.

 

So considerably more than inflation.

 

Lets see how the workout for them. Maybe they think there's money on the table for the taking but I'm skeptical.

[Cameroni]

2 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

 

Lets see how the workout for them. Maybe they think there's money on the table for the taking but I'm skeptical.

 

I think they have already reacted because it was starting to affect their bottom line. Most restaurants failed to hit targets in the first quarter of 2024. So MacDonalds reintroduced the 5 Dollar menu value meal.

[Celsius]

56 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

Next up mass-closings of megamalls.

 

cannot