Thai central bank approves added New Year holiday to boost economy
BANGKOK, Dec 11 – January 2, normally a day for business, has been added as an extra holiday, aimed at stimulating internal tourism spending, according to Thailand's central bank.
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) on Thursday announced five consecutive holidays from December 29 through January 2, in line with the caretaker government's approval on Tuesday.
Traditionally, the BoT has not declared public holidays for over four days in sequence.
The central bank expected that the announcement would boost tourism and rehabilitate the domestic economy after the fallout from the seizure of two major airports by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and 'domino effects' from the faltering global financial system.
However, the added holiday will not cause a huge impact on the country's productivity as transactions are expected to be unusually light at the end of this year, the BoT affirmed.
