Some 1,500 Bangkok restaurant and food shop members of the Thai Restaurant Association have temporary closed due to the lack of customers, especially tourists.
"Food sales at our members in Bangkok are falling by 70 per cent. Those with many branches have transferred employees to unaffected areas, but many standalone shops have laid off their workers," Choomporn Sukprasongphol, the association's business development consultant, said yesterday.
Most of the operators were in the Ratchaprasong, Silom, Sathorn and other key tourist areas. More than 4,500 staff are affected from the short-term closure.
TRA members in Bangkok have already lost Bt10 billion or half of the total restaurant market. The damage excludes losses in the provinces.
Tanaporn Markawat, managing director of Nai Exquisite Thai Restaurant in Silom, said business has dropped by 80 per cent since customers disappeared.
It allowed 70 per cent of its workforce to take leave without pay.
To deal with the crisis, it is planning to introduce a home delivery service next month at 30-40-per-cent lower prices. The new service will be aimed at residences nearby.
It is also planning to open a cooking school soon to approach expatriates who want to learn how to prepare Thai cuisine.
Choomporn said that out of the 300,000 food shops and restaurants nationwide, 30,000 are TRA members and 6,000 are in Bangkok.
Business at restaurants and food shops upcountry particularly in tourist cities is also slow, as visitors have grown scarce.
Chitsanupong Atilukkanametee from the Tourism Development Office said international tourists have switched to Malaysia and Singapore because of the unrest here. However, they should return to Thailand after the political problem is solved.
TRA has asked the Commerce Ministry to help by extending the moratorium on loan payments for five years.
TRA yesterday signed an agreement with Restaurants of Bangkok Co to open a new restaurant website at www.RestaurantsOfBangkok.com to promote and develop local restaurant businesses and the tourism industry.
"Online communities are playing an ever-growing role in urban life, and the Internet has become a powerful marketing and public relations tool giving instant access to target groups and influencing consumers' decisions," said Willem Deenik, director of Restaurants of Bangkok.
The new channel is expected help operators attract more customers both local and foreign through social media including Facebook and Twitter.
About 1,000 restaurants in Bangkok have already registered with the website.