A recovering economy and government incentives are expected to push spending during the year-end celebrations to a 13-year high of 159 billion baht, according to the latest survey of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC).
Thanavath Phonvichai, the UTCC's vice-president for research, said robust spending during the year-end period will likely see 132 billion baht circulate in the market, up 2.1% from the previous year.
Some 64.3 billion baht is expected to be spent in Greater Bangkok, while 67.8 billion will be spent in provincial areas, Mr Thanavath said.
He said the greater spending, both in terms of volume and value, should push GDP to rise 4% in 2017, up from the previous forecast of 3.9%.
With the increased purchasing power during the year-end period and robust tourism figures, projects GDP growth of 4.2-4.5% in 2018.
The UTCC spending survey was conducted among 1,213 respondents nationwide. Some 48.3% said they expected the New Year celebrations to be more active compared with last year's, while 41.2% said they would be the same and 6.5% expected the year-end holiday season to be more subdued.
Some 69.4% of respondents said they expected year-end spending to rise, while 22.7% expected unchanged spending and 7.9% said they would cut down on spending this year.
When asked about their year-end spending plans, a majority of respondents said they would travel, with average spending estimated at 21,076 baht per person, while other respondents said they would buy luxury goods.
Some respondents said they would travel abroad with an average travel budget of 60,135 baht per person.
But despite the generally rosy outlook, other concerns persist, with a majority of respondents saying they remained worried about interest rates and some economic risks that could emerge next year, while others expressed unease about political instability, Mr Thanavath said.
