December 11, 2008
BANGKOK (AFP) - The Bank of Thailand broke a long tradition Friday and declared January 2 a business holiday, creating a five-day New Year break in a bid to stimulate internal tourism spending.
The announcement comes as Thailand faces an economic slowdown and the fallout from a costly blockade of Bangkok's airports by anti-government protesters earlier this month.
"Normally the Bank of Thailand will not set more than four consecutive holidays, but because of repercussions from overseas economic sluggishness the Bank expects light transactions at the end of this year," it said in a statement.
"To fix Friday January 2 as a bank holiday will not significantly affect the country's productivity and it will boost the tourism sector," it added.
The stock market will also be out of action on January 2.
