Thailand: Commentary - Campaign needed to raise public awareness on importance of having savings.

Section: Commentary - The Nation During an economic crisis, the poor, including workers, tend to suffer the most due to their meagre incomes and inability to save enough during the boom times.

This is reflected by the steady rise in household debt as recently uncovered in a survey by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

Total household debt has surged 6.38 per cent to Bt2.6 trillion this year. Debt per household has jumped to Bt143,476 from Bt135,166 last year. The debt load has just about doubled since 1999.

The survey found that household debt tended to rise along with unemployment.

Unfortunately, this year the economy will …