Thailand Textile Industry: Frustrated Foreign Trade Orders, Manufacturers Complain Repeatedly

Ban Ti, director of Thailand Textile Industry Association, said Thailand was hit by the European economic crisis.

Orders continue to decrease, but for the time being, the specific decline is still uncertain. It is necessary to observe whether the trend of European economic crisis is easing or even more serious.

Thailand marketers need to adjust themselves. Recently, several marketers have started looking for new ones.

Markets such as ASEAN and Japan, which have high purchasing power and continue to grow, are expected to make up for the shrinking market share in the European market.

Mr Ban said that although the two market demands of ASEAN and Japan continue to grow, Thailand marketers need to build and adjust the market for some time, but believe that the overall problem is not big because some enterprises have already entered the ASEAN market.

It is noteworthy that Thailand's minimum wage is 300 baht policy, and many factories are facing a shortage of labour, which has led to a drop in capacity in factories. The government should give support to it to overcome the economic crisis.

Labour shortage is the most common problem at present. Especially in the garment industry, the proportion of labour wages exceeds 50% of the cost of production. This industry is faced with a rise in the minimum wage of workers.

More than 40% of the difficulties have led many marketers to shift their production bases elsewhere, such as neighbouring countries and border areas.

Although the government has introduced other supporting measures, such as technical training and development, it can not take care of the needs of various manufacturers.

Ban Ti said that the textile industry moved the production base to neighboring countries. It is difficult to achieve the goal. Because of the large number of operation machinery, the wide production line and the high cost of relocation, such factories as spinning, weaving and dyeing factories, the factories should actively adjust themselves to the crisis.

In contrast, other labor gathering industries can immediately decide on the relocation of production bases.