Foreign investors 'considering moving production base to Thailand'

[Rancid]

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Both US and Japan at this stage are encouraging business to leave China, preferably home but at least not in China. It would seem that there will be a new cold war, and mainly with China as the focus. Presumably the US is thinking if they don't hurt them economically and real soon, then China will march on to be the new biggest and baddest.

 

Now we have Thailand that is drifting more and more into the Chinese sphere, if that is seen as the case will Thailand be the recipient of relocating businesses or will they be encouraged to go somewhere "friendlier"? At the same time of course China will be wanting to lock up Asian markets for its goods just in case they find it harder to access western ones.

[chainarong]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

They are probably considering India too but not as much fun as Thailand

They are already heading to Vietnam, have been well before the Covid19 scare , China is on the nose.

 

[Chang_paarp]

Plenty of empty factories as there has been a general exodus over the past few years. Electronics factories, car factories relocating to places with better educated work forces, it has been a common theme in articles posted here. The only ones about new manufacturing  seem to come from government departments.

[DrTuner]

Automate as much as you can and keep it domestic.

[DrTuner]

13 minutes ago, Rancid said:

Now we have Thailand that is drifting more and more into the Chinese sphere, if that is seen as the case will Thailand be the recipient of relocating businesses or will they be encouraged to go somewhere "friendlier"? 

From what I've seen China exports the hazardous and least paying jobs to it's colonies. Thailand could become the new hazardous waste processing plant - peasants picking through barehanded and processing with toxic chemicals.

[Isaan sailor]

With the USD now 4% off its April 2 high, and almost 2% off its 10-year average vs the Baht—I doubt any potential exporter will do anything but kick the tires here. Nothing personal, but not a good business environment.  Too bad, because USA (the worlds biggest consumer market) will definitely move some supply chains out of China.

[Darkside Gray]

Amazing Thailand, I thought it was the other way round and they were leaving!

[Bob A Kneale]

5 hours ago, johng said:

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The fact that Thailand has handled the Covid-19 situation better than many countries in the region

Really ???

Yes, really.  Have you any evidence that the figures are wrong?

[spermwhale]

5 hours ago, rkidlad said:

I'm all for companies moving out of China to countries with much better human rights records and who allow more political freedoms, etc, but Thailand isn't one of them. You can't just say you're a democracy and act like a dictatorship who rules by law. 

 

Developing nations have a great opportunity now to better themselves in terms of human rights and political freedoms to promote themselves as a great place to invest. 

 

 

Human rights don't figure into the equation. If they did, they would never have located in China in the first place. Same goes for Vietnam which has attracted a lot of foreign direct investment in recent years. 

Multinationals are more interested in political stability and the number of natural catastrophes that occur regularly. Those are the first major risks they worry about. Transportation, logistics and infrastructure also come into play and Thailand has all that. Plus it is centrally located in Asia. 

 

[Bender Rodriguez]

company cannot own the land, only lease... after 30 years...  rebuild everything elsewhere ?

 

smaller companies cannot be owned 100 percent ...

 

the 4 Thais per foreign work permit

 

etc...

[Burma Bill]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

 

“Many companies are planning to move out of China to reduce future risk

GREAT NEWS!!

[Cake Monster]

If I was doing an appraisal / feasibility study of Thailand for a Business venture, this is what I would find.

A Country teetering on the edge of Civil Unrest most of the time, with an unstable future

Inflexible and outdated Immigration Laws for top personnel

Too much Red Tape for Business

Too many Labour Laws, and Holidays

An overvalued currency

Insufficient skilled Labour

Poor infrastucture based on Flood Control, Water Management and Waste contols.

Many,many better options for investment elsewhere.

[Okis]

14 minutes ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

company cannot own the land, only lease... after 30 years...  rebuild everything elsewhere ?

 

smaller companies cannot be owned 100 percent ...

 

the 4 Thais per foreign work permit

 

etc...

It's fun how some people in this thread don't understand that this is not about some average joe trying to set up a business in Thailand. 

 

What the article is referring to are corporations, corporations worth hundreds of millions/billions of dollars.  

They don't have to play by the same rules as you, which should be obvious for anyone with a fully grown brain. 

 

 

However most of them probally prefer to move to Vietnam or Bangladesh, but some of them will set up in Thailand. 

Edited May 29, 2020 by Okis

[johng]

11 minutes ago, Bob A Kneale said:

Yes, really.  Have you any evidence that the figures are wrong?

https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/coronavirus-asia-asean-live-updates-by-country/

 

Brunei now has 139 cases
Cambodia has 124 cases and no deaths as of May 23.
Laos The country now has 19 cases.
As of May 27, Myanmar has 206 cases and six deaths
As of May 28, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health’s tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 remained at 327
Thailand reports 11 new cases and no new deaths on May 28, bringing its total to 3,065. 57 deaths
As of May 26, Malaysia has 7,604 cases and 115 deaths.
Philippines 539 new cases and 17 deaths on May 28, taking the national tally to 15,588 infections and 921 deaths.
Indonesia saw 678 as of May 29, bringing the total tally to 25,216 and 1,520 deaths.

 

So Brunei,Cambodia,Laos,Myanmar and Vietnam  all seemed to have done "better" than  Thailand.

Philippines and Indonesia  have large populations.

 

My theory is the virus simply does not do well in the high heat and intense tropical UV countries

despite things the "government" did.

 

[rkidlad]

23 minutes ago, spermwhale said:

Human rights don't figure into the equation. If they did, they would never have located in China in the first place. Same goes for Vietnam which has attracted a lot of foreign direct investment in recent years. 

Multinationals are more interested in political stability and the number of natural catastrophes that occur regularly. Those are the first major risks they worry about. Transportation, logistics and infrastructure also come into play and Thailand has all that. Plus it is centrally located in Asia. 

 

If you're gonna pull out of China, it will be under the idea you're leaving because they're a truly horrible regime. When China was brought to the table, it was done so under the impression they'd move closer to democracy. They didn't. They kept moving further away, and now after the virus and their antics they can't be ignored anymore. 

 

Countries that don't have rule of law can't be trusted. Whether they're stable and established regimes like China's, or unstable ones like Thailand's, the world is now incredibly wary (and rightfully so) of investing in lawless countries. And lawless countries don't care about human rights. This is now a great opportunity for developing countries with bad human rights records to improve and stabilize and vacuum up that business China will hopefully and rightfully lose. 

 

 

[Bob A Kneale]

2 minutes ago, johng said:

32 minutes ago, Bob A Kneale said:

Yes, really.  Have you any evidence that the figures are wrong?

https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/coronavirus-asia-asean-live-updates-by-country/

 

Brunei now has 139 cases
Cambodia has 124 cases and no deaths as of May 23.
Laos The country now has 19 cases.
As of May 27, Myanmar has 206 cases and six deaths
As of May 28, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health’s tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 remained at 327
Thailand reports 11 new cases and no new deaths on May 28, bringing its total to 3,065. 57 deaths
As of May 26, Malaysia has 7,604 cases and 115 deaths.
Philippines 539 new cases and 17 deaths on May 28, taking the national tally to 15,588 infections and 921 deaths.
Indonesia saw 678 as of May 29, bringing the total tally to 25,216 and 1,520 deaths.

 

So Brunei,Cambodia,Laos,Myanmar and Vietnam  all seemed to have done "better" than  Thailand.

Philippines and Indonesia  have large populations.

 

My theory is the virus simply does not do well in the high heat and intense tropical UV countries

despite things the "government" did.

 

So, that's it, is it, you're just quoting other countries irrelevant figures?  That is not evidence that Thailand's figures are wrong as your post that I responded to seemed to suggest.

[Mavideol]

2 hours ago, Chang_paarp said:

Plenty of empty factories as there has been a general exodus over the past few years. Electronics factories, car factories relocating to places with better educated work forces, it has been a common theme in articles posted here. The only ones about new manufacturing  seem to come from government departments.

the industrial area where I was located had 22 factories, all producing different stuff, mostly plastic parts, back in 2012-2013 things in China were starting to look downhill and 17-18 factories decided to close and move to Vietnam, some owned by Chinese people making sports shoes moved to Vietnam border with China, some owned by Taiwanese (clothing & Nike shoes) moved to Cambodia, some French making mountain climbing gear moved to Vietnam as well, the American company making Clarks shoes there also moved out, not sure if Vietnam or Cambodia... the exodus has been going on for quite some time,  but not many of my acquaintances in the business selected Thailand as a manufacturing hub

[geisha]

If I was looking to invest or open a factory in Thailand, I would take one look at the streets, the buildings and the general work force and go elsewhere. 

[Okis]

32 minutes ago, geisha said:

If I was looking to invest or open a factory in Thailand, I would take one look at the streets, the buildings and the general work force and go elsewhere. 

Multimillion/billion company's obviously took a look at Cambodian and Bangladesh streets, buildings e.tc and figured that those things doesn't matter nor have a impact on their objective. 

 

Same as they did in China before China developed into what it is nowadays thanks to all those factories. 

Edited May 29, 2020 by Okis

[Oziex1]

7 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

A company has to weigh all options before making a big investment anywhere in the world.  Thailand may be appealing to some.  But my guess is many will end up else where. 

Vietnam?

[johng]

58 minutes ago, Bob A Kneale said:

just quoting other countries irrelevant figures? 

So Thailand's figures are  relevant  but other (neighbouring) countries  figures are irrelevant  when discussing that Thailand did better than neighbouring countries  ?  

but no I don't really believe any of their figures.

[Trillian]

8 minutes ago, Oziex1 said:

Vietnam?

Unstable currency and high inflation, GDP is half that of Thailand.

[impulse]

I think they're confusing "production base" with "distribution facility" so they can claim all their Chinese goods were made in Thailand and dodge the punitive tariffs. 

 

In 10+ years of bopping around China, I wish I had a dime for every crate I witnessed leaving a Chinese factory marked "Product of Korea".  I'm sure the crate passed through a Korean port on it's way to wherever...

 

[DrTuner]

4 minutes ago, impulse said:

I think they're confusing "production base" with "distribution facility" so they can claim all their Chinese goods were made in Thailand and dodge the punitive tariffs. 

Which will simply cause Thailand to end up receiving the same sanctions and tariffs.

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

9 minutes ago, impulse said:

I think they're confusing "production base" with "distribution facility" so they can claim all their Chinese goods were made in Thailand and dodge the punitive tariffs. 

Which will simply cause Thailand to end up receiving the same sanctions and tariffs.

 

Only if they get caught...  And even then, there will be wrangling, harumphing, and some back room deals related to black prisons, and all will be forgiven.

[johng]

6 minutes ago, impulse said:

Only if they get caught...

It will all be just another big "misunderstanding"  

[Kwasaki]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai entrepreneurs.

????

[Knocker33]

Vietnam will fair a lot better with investors me thinks. There are already big companies pulling out of here and relocating to Vietnam 

[Don Mega]

6 hours ago, EricTh said:

I really doubt that Thailand is a good production base considering

 

1. the low level of English proficiency,

2. endless paper documentation for visas

3. 90-day report

4. over-protection of many jobs for Thai people only

5. restrictions in owning land for foreigners who want to invest in factories

 

I think Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia would be better choices in these factors.

How many of the production staff require visa's and have to do 90 day reporting ?

[racket]

Yeah, in case they’ll show up for work..