BANGKOK – Sitting down and playing with her smartphone, store owner Thienmanee Ngamsaptawee waited for customers to go to her aroma product shop on a Sunday afternoon at Bangkok’s once bustling Chatuchak weekend market.

“Five years ago, I hardly had time to sit down. Now, I don’t have much to do,” Mrs Thienmanee, the owner of two outlets at the market, told The Straits Times.

“The economy has been the worst I’ve ever experienced in my life. Even the financial crisis in 1997 wasn’t this bad,” she said, referring to the Asian economic crisis that began with the collapse of the Thai baht.

Given the dearth of tourist shoppers each weekend, she has cut her stocks by 80 per cent and let one of her three assistants go.

She was among many market vendors at the famed market who reported that their sales have dipped by half or more over the past few years.

Gift shop owner Ganyarut Buasa-ard said she has cancelled stock orders for the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays as there have not been enough orders this year.

Her monthly profit of 10,000 baht (S$450) is three to four times less than three years ago.

“I can’t quit though as I still have regular customers. I just need to keep going and finding ways to cope,” she said, adding that she relies more on online channels to boost her sales.

Thailand’s trade-dependent economy grew at its slowest pace this year in the third quarter, expanding only 0.1 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis. This is the weakest rate since a contraction in the same period last year, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).

Employment in the wholesale and retail sector has taken a hard hit, falling 4.1 per cent in the third quarter, just behind manufacturing, which saw employment fall by 5.2 percent.

Although the Thai unemployment rates remains one of the lowest in the world at 1.04 per cent, or 394,000 people as of October, employment decreased by 2.1 per cent year on year (y-o-y) in the third quarter.

Employment grew 3.1 per cent in the hotel and restaurant sector, attributed to a higher number of tourists, said the NESDC.

Tourist arrivals were 12.5 per cent higher in October than the year before, reported the Bank of Thailand. This is thanks in part to the waiver of visa on arrival fees for visitors from China, India and Taiwan, approved by the Cabinet in August.

Growing tourist arrivals from other Asian countries such as South Korea and Japan, and an upward blip from Malaysians over the Deepavali holiday, also helped the numbers.

Still, many hotels have reported a fall in occupancy. In Pattaya, this year’s average occupancy rate was 80 per cent, compared to almost 100 per cent last year, said Pattaya deputy governor Manoj Nongyai.

The gross domestic product rose 2.4 per cent in the third quarter, below the forecast of 2.6 per cent.

Household debt hit an all-time high of 13 trillion baht in the second quarter of 2019, accounting for 78.7 per cent of the GDP, according to the NESDC.

Average debt per household was put at 340,053 baht, according to a survey of 1,201 people conducted by the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce in late November.

Economist Somchai Pakapaswiwat attributes Thailand’s economic downturn mainly to the ongoing US-China trade war.

The strong Thai baht, which is the best-performing currency in Asia rising 7.67 per cent against the US dollar this year, has led to a tumbling tourism and falling exports.

Exports of goods and services, which contribute to more than two-thirds of the GDP, fell 2.1 per cent y-o-y from January to September, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The slowing economy and record-high household debt have pushed many to tighten their belts.

A survey on 1,174 people conducted in November by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, showed nearly 70 per cent of respondents have cut down on travel, parties and luxury items, while over 40 per cent said they have spent more time at home and cook instead of going out for food.

The trend to save contrasted with what the government has in mind – for people to keep spending to revive the economy. Since August, the Cabinet has approved a series of stimulus packages worth a combined 465 billion baht.

This includes giving 13 million people 1,000 baht each to spend at participating shops and hotels outside their provinces of residence to spur domestic tourism, with an additional 500 baht to each low-income earner with state welfare cards.

Farmers can also be issued loans with low interest of 0.1 per cent for a year, while the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives will give extensions of loan repayments. SMEs loans with low interest of 1 per cent and many other subsidies are among the initiatives.

The measures have driven economic activities up by merely 0.1 per cent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, with 0.3 per cent increase in private investments from the second quarter. Private consumption grew on a decelerating trend, expanding 4.2 per cent compared to 4.6 per cent from the same period last year, according to the NESDC.

But the move has not gone down well with everyone. “Business people like us are dying, but we are still being pressured to pay taxes, so the poor can get free handouts. The government doesn’t understand what we’re going through at all,” said Mrs Thienmanee.

Dr Somchai said: “These measures are actually too minimal to bring about change. The real drive for growth is in fact through education and innovations, which would give Thais a competitive edge.”

He is, however, optimistic about next year’s recovery in the light of increasing government investments once the annual budget Bill is passed in Parliament and becomes effective in February. A possible easing of global trade tensions following the planned US-China trade agreement next year will also bode well for the Thai economy, he said.

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