March 15, 2002
Car-crazy Thais Spend Their Way To Recovery
Bangkok, March 14: Car-crazy Thais are on a spending spree this year, industry data shows, boosting the local auto industry and spurring hopes of a rapid economic recovery. Automobile sales in February totalled 26,802 units, up a massive 36.2 per cent year-on-year, Toyota Motor Corp’s Thai unit, which collates data for the industry, said on Thursday. Thais bought 24,727 vehicles in January and nearly 300,000 in 2001, up 13.3 per cent on the previous year. The sales increase in the last year can be partly attributed to replacement of six or seven-year-old vehicles, bought during the economic boom of the mid-1990s, when it was said one km of new cars crawled onto Bangkok’s choked roads each day. But economists say low interest rates and stable prices are also persuading Thais this is the right time to call a finance firm for a loan and get some new wheels. "This year consumer confidence is up every month because of low interest rates and the rally in the stock market," said Virach Virojfailee, an economist at TISCO Securities. And the consumer is lucky -- inflation isn’t a concern at this point," he said. Virach said robust domestic consumption was edging exports, as the main stimulus of Thailand’s economic growth. Most economists expect Thailand to register around three per cent growth this year, against the 1.5-2 per cent seen for 2001. "We still think domestic demand is the main driver this year," said Virach. "We don’t see a rebound in exports until the second half of the year and even then, it won’t be very strong compared to other countries." Thai exports are still focused on household products, which won’t benefit as much as high-end products," he said. — Reuters
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