Policy on Automotive Industry Development of Thailand

Abstract

“Automotive Industry” is one of the most important industries of the Thai economy. Its importance lies in providing employment opportunities, promoting industrial production, and boosting exports, among other ben­efits. The industrial promotion via previous state sector policies helped stimulate the overall industrial development and accelerate growth of the automotive industry and the manufacture of automobile parts. In the first phase of the Thai automotive industry, it was the encouragement by the state-sector policy that helped the development of this business. The policy has indeed transformed automotive production into one of Thailand’s stra­tegic industries and the country has as a result become a leading automo­tive production base of the world. This automotive industry promotion has significantly benefited from Thailand’s investment promotion effort, which has continually been improved. The country is shifting its policy, which now gives importance to the development of electric automobile technologies with the hope of making Thailand an important production base of this kind of automobiles in the region. With such a policy shift, Thai companies are now starting planning and adapting their automotive production policy. Automobile manufacturers will invest more in the development of electric vehicles and batteries. The researcher is thus interested in studying Thai­land’s policy on automobile industry, tracing its past development and the present direction with specific focus on its transformation, directions, impacts and potential trends. This work will serve as a guidelinefor Thai automobile entrepreneurs, making them better informed and become ready for the future orientation of Thailand’s automobile industry.