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In the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Thai bhat is one of Asia’s worst-performing currencies.
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Forbes’ coverage of Thailand’s Richest 2021 includes this story. The complete list may be seen here. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on Thailand. Among Asia’s emerging markets, government bonds have had the worst cumulative year-to-date returns this year. Over the same time period, the baht had the second-worst performance among Asian currencies, and the worst among Southeast Asian currencies.
Following last year’s success in reducing Covid-19, the government is now dealing with the largest wave of infections yet, prompting the central bank to lower its GDP growth prediction for the year to 1.8 percent from 3%.

Asia’s Forbes
Over 1.4 million jobs have been lost in the tourist and travel sectors alone in a country where tourism and travel account for 20% of GDP. Thai Airways filed for bankruptcy protection in May of last year, making it the first and only national flag carrier in Southeast Asia to do so.
Thais have also been hit, with the poverty rate in the country jumping from 6.2 percent in 2019 to 8.8 percent last year, according to the World Bank.

Asia’s Forbes

On the plus side, exports increased by 40% year over year in May, indicating that global demand is improving. Thailand has made significant progress in the recent generation, thanks to the private sector’s creation of jobs that have lifted millions of people out of poverty.
Even before the pandemic, however, economic development had slowed due to decreased demand caused by U.S.-China tensions, poor economic management, and rising family debt. Covid-19 threw a wrench in the already tumultuous domestic political environment.

Asia’s Forbes

One of the vaccines available in Thailand is the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Getty Images/Vachira Vachira/NurPhoto
Thailand’s recovery will be determined by global economic growth and vaccine progress—the government has pledged to vaccinate 70% of the population by the end of the year, but vaccination rates are still in the single digits. Thailand’s struggling tourism industry has reason to be hopeful, with plans to fully reopen borders by the end of the year—though when tourism will return to pre-pandemic levels is anyone’s guess./nRead More

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