The restaurant business showed signs of recovery as new eateries registered with the Commerce Ministry returned to the top three sectors last month.
Jitakorn Wongkhatekorn, deputy director-general of the Business Development Department, said the number of new restaurant business registrations in February returned to the top three sectors for the first time in eight months. A total of 222 new eateries registered last month, up 3% year-on-year.
General building construction businesses tallied 766 new registrations, up 11%, while real estate registrations totalled 333, up 5%, last month.
According to the Thai Restaurant Association, eateries generate about 400 billion baht a year for the Thai economy and contribute about 20% of the tourism sector.
Restaurant have been stung by the prolonged pandemic as many small-scale operators threw in the towel and returned to their hometowns, notably in the northeastern and southern regions.
Mr Jitakorn said factors driving the new business registration in the top three sectors are the government's infrastructure investment, state stimulus packages to increase domestic spending and the lifting of the Test & Go entry measures, and improved export prospects in line with the global economic recovery and baht depreciation.
He said most entrepreneurs still fret over the high daily infection rate for the Omicron variant and escalating risk from the Ukraine war, which has triggered rising oil prices and production costs.
Mr Jitakorn said total new business registration dropped by 1% year-on-year in February to 7,211, but improved from a 10% fall in January. The total registered capital of new companies fell by 2% to 19.4 billion baht year-on-year. The department forecast new registration at 40,000–42,000 in the first half.