Business leaders have called for an end to anti-amnesty bill street demonstrations after the Senate decided to reject the bill on Monday, warning that lengthy protests in Bangkok will worsen the economy.
Colourful whistles are among several products showing brisk sales around the demonstration area on Ratchadamnoen Avenue. Antigovernment protesters blow whistles as sign of resistance. THITI WANNAMONTHA
Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of both the Board of Trade and the Thai Chamber of Commerce, wants all rallies to be called off to reduce confrontation amid escalating political tensions.
The two bodies' duty to oppose the amnesty bill ended after the Senate rejected the bill, he said.
Prolonged rallies could be another blow to already weak economic growth, Mr Isara said, adding that the country has entered the peak tourism season.
Tourism is Thailand's main growth driver as domestic consumption, private investment and exports run out of steam, so revenue from tourism could partly offset shrinking exports, he said.
"Exports will likely expand by only 1% this year. We have to think about the overall impact," said Mr Isara.
"Since the mission against the amnesty bill has been accomplished, we have no reason to keep the demonstrations."
Chen Namchaisiri, vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said five major economic drivers of export revenue, domestic consumption, state megaproject investment, private investment and tourism are slowing down significantly.
"The government is revising the export target month by month, and this reflects that the global economy is still slowing down and will bring down our export revenue," he said.
The 2-trillion-baht infrastructure megaprojects have been delayed, as the government pushed the amnesty bill for parliament's consideration ahead of the borrowing bill, while the 350-billion-baht water management project is only at the stage of a public hearing.
Mr Chen said domestic consumption has slowed in line with increasing household debt as a result of the first-time car buyer scheme last year that eroded the purchasing power of consumers.
"Many people fell into debt with banks after participating in these programmes, so their purchasing power became weak. We can see that import value this year is slowing down sharply," said Mr Chen.
Investment by the private sector could be affected by political unrest next year, he said.
The tourism sector is starting to feel the pinch because many governments have warned their people to avoid travelling to Thailand at a time of street protests.
Bank of Thailand deputy governor Tongurai Limpiti said the situation appears to be easing despite a call for civil disobedience by the opposition Democrat Party.
"The political situation has not worsened, and the central bank's staff are coming to work as usual," she said.
The central bank is taking normal measures by monitoring the situation closely and being ready to beef up security within the bank's premises.
Mrs Tongurai said news and updated information on road closures and demonstration developments are circulated via the central bank's internal intranet system for its staff.
The central bank has prepared sufficient reserve banknotes for commercial banks and arranged discussions with banks through videoconferences to assess political developments, she said.