Flood-Hit Hat Yai Shop Owners Seek ฿40M Soft Loans as Reopenings Stall
Beneath dusty shutters and half-lit neon signs, Hat Yai’s economic pulse remains perilously low months after the November floods washed through the southern hub.
Quick glance:
• <20% of businesses have reopened
• 40M-baht ceiling requested on recovery loans
• 0% interest first six months, 1.5% thereafter
• Emergency floodworks stalled by budget delays
A fragile commercial rebound
Hat Yai, long hailed as the gateway to Malaysia and a major contributor to Songkhla’s GDP, is still grappling with a liquidity crunch. Local officials estimate ฿20 B in structural damage to shop fronts, eateries and small factories. Electrical systems and interior fixtures were ravaged, leaving owners facing repair bills that exceed the current ฿1 M credit cap. With fewer than one in five outlets back in business, everyday Thais find fewer options for dining, shopping and cross-border trade.
Reimagining soft credit
Business leaders have drafted an ambitious blueprint to raise the soft-loan ceiling to ฿40 M per borrower, arguing that the existing limit is a “band-aid on a compound fracture.” Their proposal features:
• 0% interest for the first six months
• 1.5% annual rate over a five-year term
• Principal grace until month 13
Songkhla Chamber of Commerce president Songpon Changsirivathanathamrong warns that without such scale, small enterprises risk permanent closure, triggering a K-shaped divergence between well-capitalized chains and struggling mom-and-pop shops.
Reviving wanderlust
Tourism remains a vital lifeline. Roughly 55% of hotels have patched up flood damage, but guest numbers haven’t followed. Crossings at Sadao checkpoint hover near 10,000 daily visitors, barely half the pre-flood norm. Hotel association head Sittipong Sitthipatprapha calls for a district-specific version of Khon La Khrueng Plus, running through Chinese New Year and Songkran, alongside temporary cuts to electricity, water tariffs and land tax to coax travellers and locals back into Hat Yai’s night markets and halal eateries.
Racing against the rain
Beyond financial lifelines, engineers emphasize urgent flood-control works. Immediate dredging of Khlong Hua and Khlong R.6, completion of a 1.2 km flood tunnel and small-scale retention basins could shave 80 cm off peak water levels in the next monsoon. Although ฿530 M sits in central reserves, officials need an emergency decree to bypass the usual budget cycle and launch “quick-win” measures. Waiting for the 2027 budget risks another catastrophe and erosion of investor confidence.
What to watch
The Finance Ministry is reviewing the 40 M-baht proposal and debating a tourism tax rebate for flights into Hat Yai. A decision is expected before mid-February, with stakeholders urging a tiered approach: ฿20 M for most SMEs, ฿40 M for strategic employers, and linkage to accelerated flood-control contracts. For Thai residents eyeing a return to normalcy, the speed and scale of these measures will determine whether Hat Yai rebounds in a sharp V, fractures into a K, or lingers in an L-shaped slump.
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