The latest estimate of economic loss has become more critical than the previous one, which was made before the 10 April bloodshed, according to KResearch. As the rally has intensified and extended longer than expected, the figure of impact on this year’s GDP has been raised from 0.2-1.5% to 0.5-2.3%.

Out of all businesses, the tourism sector is facing the greatest damage from the political crisis and could lose up to 80 billion THB of revenues from foreigners. If the problem is prolonged, the impact could spread to other economic sectors.

KResearch predicted that the economic growth of Thailand this year would stand within the range of 2.6-4.5%, lower than the April estimate of 3.5-6.0%. However, the economy will be favored by exports, which are expected to expand 17.0-24.0% in accord with the thriving global economy and positive influences from free trade agreements. Despite the political unrest, the surge in the first quarter of this year should outweigh the slowdown in the remaining quarters.