BANGKOK, May 14, 2009 (AFP) - Thai consumer confidence fell to its lowest in more than seven years in April with buyers nervous about spending amid ongoing domestic political turmoil and global economic woes, a survey showed Thursday.

The overall consumer confidence index dropped to 72.1 from 72.8 in March, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said in a statement.

A score below 100 indicates pessimists outweigh optimists. The index has now been below 100 for 58 consecutive months.

"The index is the lowest in 87 months since February 2002 (when the poll began) and it was below 100 points which reflects that consumers are not confident in general," said pollster Thanavath Phonvichai in a statement.

He said a military crackdown on anti-government protesters amid a state of emergency in Bangkok in April had contributed to the low score. The high jobless figure in Thailand had also eroded confidence, he said.

"Consumers are still concerned over the downturn in both the Thai and world economy and unemployment has a negative impact on consumer sentiment," the statement said.

Thanavath said he didn't expect consumer sentiment to pick up until the third quarter and called on the government to roll out its 116.7 billion baht (3.3 billion dollar) stimulus to help the economy recover as soon as possible.

Renewed anti-government protests by supporters of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra shook confidence last month when demonstrators stormed a regional summit being held on the coast, forcing its abrupt closure.

Two people later died in street violence that followed running street battles between protesters and soldiers who were enforcing emergency measures across Bangkok.

The index was based on a survey of about 2,200 people nationwide.