The cold snap in the relatively poor provinces of the Northeast has driven up the sale of second-hand jackets, as villagers rush to stock up on warm clothes to prepare for colder temperatures.
The brisk sale of winter wear was prompted after mercury levels in the region dropped to 14C on Friday.
Most vendors at Buri Ram's Klong Thom Market in Nang Rong district said daily revenue had more or less doubled thanks to the sale of second-hand warm clothes.
Second-hand jackets generally go for between 50 and 100 baht apiece.
Several vendors said they earned up to 5,000 baht a day, adding that some villagers bought up to 10 items each to prepare for a cold winter.
Pairin Limcharoen, an official with the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in Chiang Mai province, however, voiced grave concern about the lack of winter clothing among people living in the North, adding that this could affect their health.
He said there was a scarcity of warm clothing and blankets in 25 districts in Chiang Mai province, adding that so far his department has only been able to provide warm clothing to 30,000 people or only 10% of the affected population.
However, the one sector that is benefiting from the drop in temperatures is the tourism business.
Thousands of tourists have flocked to Chiang Mai's Doi Inthanon National Park and set up camp for the long weekend to experience frost, as temperatures dropped several degrees to settle at 9C.
Kritsayam Kongsatree, chief of Doi Inthanon, said as many as 7,000 tourists arrived yesterday and that hotels and hostels nearby were fully booked until Monday.
The Thai Meteorology Department's forecast yesterday said that temperatures in the Northeast and North will drop by another 4 to 8 degrees Celsius until Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Bangkok, as well as the East and Central regions will see temperatures dropping to between 13 and 18 degrees Celsius.