Nearly Bt38b expected to be generated during Thailand's vegetarian festival 2012

BANGKOK, October 12 (TNA) - The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting of Bangkok-based University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has forecast that the country's 10-day vegetarian festival this year should generate nearly 38 billion baht in cash circulations nationwide, a 7.6 per cent year-on-year expansion. The centre's director, Thanawat Polvichai, told reporters on Thursday that the projection was based on a recent survey on people's spending during the vegetarian festival this year. Thanawat acknowledged the survey found that more people nationwide intended to take vegetarian food this year, a 28.2 per cent year-on-year increase, with each of them estimated to spend about 8,154 baht during the 10-day period, mostly for vegetarian food, followed by their pilgrim accommodations. According to the survey, most respondents said they would consume vegetarian food as a merit making, followed by as a fashion and as a votive offering to the sanctity and most of them, or some 57 per cent, bewared of higher prices of vegetarian food. Ahead of this year's vegetarian festival, whichm will start on October 14, the Thai Commerce Ministry reported soaring vegetable prices, compared with those of last month. For example, the wholesale price of kale has risen from 15 baht to 70 baht per kilogram, that of cabbage from 18 baht to 160 baht per kilogram and that of water morning glory from 22 baht to 30 baht per kilogram. Meanwhile, the Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC), a leading Thai private think tank, projected that more than 5.6 billion baht will be spent during this year's vegetarian festival in the country's southern resort Phuket province alone. (TNA)