Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on micro, small and medium restaurant businesses in Thailand

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has intensified. It not only affects the health and well-being of people worldwide; it also affects almost all sectors of the global and Thai economies. Especially affected have been the restaurant businesses sector. The major victims of the crisis are micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). We would like to understand which MSMEs in the restaurant business have been affected by COVID-19 in Bangkok, Thailand. We collected data by enumeration over the telephone; the sample size was 100 respondents in the restaurant business. Business data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Our results showed that most participating businesses have been severely affected and faced many problems during the crisis. Over 70% of participating businesses increase sales via delivery platforms, according to consumer behavior and business take other measures to survive. Nearly half of restaurant businesses expected business to return to normal more than nine months after the crisis because the business has difficulty recovering after a long impact, and many factors are involved.