Impact of COVID-19 on Food Consumption in Southeast Asia: Case study in Thailand

Bc. Tendeukai Manase, MSc

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The thesis aims to research how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected food consumption and consumer behaviour in Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand which was chosen as a representative of the region. It is thought that in general people became more aware of their health but what needs to be further looked into is what people actually did as a reaction to this. One of the main aims was to check whether these impacts from the pandemic would be long term for consumers or if habits would return to what they were pre pandemic. The sort of habits investigated include finding out if individuals became more conscious of their health because of the pandemic and if they did more to look after it. This included activities such as cooking at home more often, eating more healthy or exercising more often. Given that people also couldn't leave their homes freely during the pandemic, the study also focused on how individuals spent their time at home. Online shopping became more popular during this period not just in Thailand but globally so it was important to look into what kind of items were being purchased more frequently during the pandemic and if they were linked to pandemic. Furthermore, The issue of food safety and security awareness as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic additionally was explored. This was to find out what kind knowledge individuals had on these topics before the pandemic and if this knowledge changed as a direct result of the pandemic. To assist with data collection in these regions, the collection process will be done in cooperation with 4 higher education institutes in Thailand from each of these regions. The data collection process will include the survey method in which questions related to the topic will be asked to respondents. The survey focused on four main aspects which are food consumption, food safety, purchase methods and socio economic background. In total 498 responses were collected in total where questions from each of these topics were answered. Based on the findings it was decided that it would be best to focus on the differences between students and people that are employed which generally are also younger and older people. This was to asses whether or not there was a difference in how the pandemic has affected them and their behaviour since its onset in Thailand.

Keywords

food safety, physical activity, pandemic, food security, ecommerce

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 23. 4. 2023

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 29. 5. 2023
• Supervisor: Ing. Petra Chaloupková, Ph.D. dr. h. c.
• Reader: RUNGRAT SAEYANG, externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme:
International Development and Agricultural Economics