31 Aug, 2021
The Thai Restaurant Association has informed the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) that the reopening of restaurants to dine-in customers will help restaurateurs recover about 50 percent of normal income. The association has also asked the government to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Thai and migrant workers in the restaurant business, as soon as possible.
President of the Thai Restaurant Association, Thaniwan Koonmongkon, said that the CCSA’s resolution to relax disease-control measures, particularly the granting of permission for restaurants to reopen their businesses to dine-in customers while following all precautionary measures, is beyond expectations, with 75 percent capacity allowed for outdoor dining spaces. The decision will improve the overall situation, leading to an increase in sales volume. However, it also depends on how well restaurateurs manage their customer base.
After the reopening becomes effective, the sales volume of restaurants should increase from 20 percent to at least 50 percent, helping businesses to survive. Food businesses in Thailand are valued at 1.4 billion baht a day. Once the sales volume reaches 50 percent, or about 700 million baht a day, restaurants will be injecting 21 billion baht into the economy a month.
Mrs. Thaniwan added that the government should provide COVID-19 vaccines to Thai and migrant workers in the restaurant business. Although the Ministry of Public Health has allowed the general public to register for COVID-19 vaccination equally, many migrant workers and some Thai workers in different sectors are not able to access the registration process due to various factors. Only 200,000 workers in the restaurant business are insured under Section 33 of the Social Security Act, while many other workers are not registered. Therefore, the Thai Restaurants Association has encouraged restaurant workers to register for vaccinations; the information will be submitted to the Ministry of Public Health, so as to allocate more doses of vaccine to meet the demand. (NNT)
