Rakuten Insight’s Thailand Cost Pressure Pulse (Wave 2, n=1,050) finds that while Thai consumer sentiment has improved significantly, spending behaviour remains unchanged. Three weeks after Wave 1, concern has eased, but caution persists.

The Mood Has Shifted. The Math Hasn’t.

Wave 2 was conducted in the first week of May 2026, three weeks after Wave 1, and results shifted quickly. The average concern score decreased from 8.09 to 7.76 out of 10. The percentage expecting their household finances to worsen dropped by 11.4 points, from 56.1% to 44.7%, marking the largest single-wave improvement in the tracker. The proportion of respondents in the high-concern band (8–10/10) declined from 68.6% to 60.3%.The primary driver of this shift is reduced concern about fuel costs. Fuel, which was the top concern in Wave 1 at 34.4%, fell to 22.1%, a decrease of 12.3 points. Food and groceries are now the leading concern at 28.7%, while utilities increased from 10.2% to 15.8%.Financial pressure remains, but its focus has shifted.

Pump Pressure Eased. Utility Bills Surged.

Spending intent data confirms this shift. Net intent for fuel and transport remains stable (+25.0 compared to +23.2 in Wave 1). Utilities increased to +46.3 from +40.8, making it the largest forced spending category. Grocery spending also rose from +9.2 to +14.3.Thai consumers are not spending more by choice. They are absorbing more by necessity. The composition of the squeeze changed; its weight did not.

Cuts Are Easing — Slowly

The categories that faced the steepest cuts in Wave 1 are recovering, but remain firmly in negative territory. Dining out improved by 5.9 percentage points to −36.1. Food delivery moved from −33.9 to −27.6. Entertainment and subscriptions eased to −13.7. These are not recoveries — they are still deep contractions. The direction is positive; the level is not.

The Cut-First Reflex: Structurally Embedded

Perhaps the most important finding in Wave 2 is what didn’t change. When asked what they would do first if monthly expenses rose unexpectedly, 63.2% of Thai respondents said they would cut discretionary spending — almost identical to the 63.9% recorded in Wave 1. Mood improved. The instinct didn’t. This is not crisis behaviour. It is structural behaviour. Thai households have a deeply embedded hierarchy of response to financial pressure, and a three-week improvement in sentiment is not enough to dislodge it.

More Actions, More Income-Seeking

If the cut-first reflex is unchanged, the income-seeking impulse is accelerating. The average number of coping actions per person rose from 2.99 to 3.12. And for the first time, looking for extra income or side gigs has tied with delaying non-essential purchases as the most common coping action, both at 51.2%. The share actively seeking additional income rose 3.0 percentage points from Wave 1’s already-high 48.2%.Thai consumers are deploying more strategies, not fewer. Mood recovery has not translated into passivity. If anything, the data suggests a shift from panic-driven cutting to more deliberate, multi-lever household management — less reactive, more calculated.

What This Means for Brands and Platforms

Two signals stand out for commercial planning. First, the utility surge is the new forced spend front. For energy providers, telecoms, and financial institutions, the utility cost anxiety is now more acute than fuel — and growing. Second, the income-seeking posture is durable. Platforms in the gig, financial services, and side-income space are operating in an increasingly motivated audience. The brands best positioned are still those that led with price transparency, durability, and quality assurance in Wave 1. Nothing in Wave 2 changes that calculus. Convenience remains the weakest value proposition under pressure.

About the Thailand Cost Pressure Pulse

The Thailand Cost Pressure Pulse is a consumer sentiment tracker conducted by Rakuten Insight, measuring cost-of-living exposure, financial outlook, spending intentions, and coping behaviours among Thai households. Wave 1: n=1,054, fieldwork 4–6 April 2026. Wave 2: n=1,050, fieldwork 4–6 May 2026. Quota-controlled sample across age, gender, and region. All fieldwork via Rakuten Insight’s online panel. © Rakuten Insight 2026.

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