Image from The Nation Thailand/ANN
BANGKOK, July 10 (The Nation Thailand/ANN): A recent opinion survey found that most Thais do not earn enough to cover their monthly expenses and a large number of respondents said their monthly income has dropped.
The survey was conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) by interviewing 1,312 respondents by phone from July 6 to 8.
The respondents were at least 18 years old and came from different educational backgrounds, careers and different parts of the country.
According to the survey, 60.06 per cent of respondents said their monthly income was lower than their expenses, while 32.62 per cent said their income just about covered their expenses. The poll found that only 7.32 per cent earned more than they spent.
Also, 47.10 per cent of the respondents said their income had dropped, 46.72 per cent said their income has remained unchanged and 6.18 per cent said they earned more.
And to make it even tougher, Thailand has decided to extend the state of emergency, introduced in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, for another two months, according to its centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
The online newspaper Krungthep Turakij quoted CCSA Spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin as announcing on July 8 that the state of emergency has been extended from August 1 to September 30, 2022.
The decision is based on the need to continue to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the concern for the public's health.
According to Taweesin, Thailand should be ready to recognise Covid -19 as an endemic disease.
The CCSA’s data showed that there are currently 25,082 Covid-19 patients being treated in hospitals across Thailand. It records about 2,000 new cases and 20 deaths from the disease each day in the South-East Asian country.
