The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has estimated that Songkran celebrations have seen about 18.5 billion baht in spending by revellers across the country.
For this year, the TAT estimates total revenues from tourism at about 2.38 trillion baht, including 1.5 trillion baht from as many as 30 million foreign arrivals and about 800 million baht from Thai tourists.
Meanwhile, the Economic and Business Forecast Centre of the Thai Chamber of Commerce University reported the spending behaviour of consumers during the 2019 Songkran celebrations, from poll of 1,202 samples throughout the country.
They say that, in 2019, which was before the COVID-19 pandemic, total spending during Songkran was estimated at about 135 billion baht, about 2.78% higher than the year before, as people were cautious about their spending due to economic uncertainty.
91.5% of the revellers travelled in their own transport or on public transport, with only 8.5% using the services of tour agencies. Most took one-day trips, while the rest spent 2-3 nights away during their journeys.
According to the centre, figures for Songkran spending from 2020-2022 are unavailable due to the pandemic, as fewer people travelled during that time.
