July 15: When Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD opened its first Southeast Asian factory in Thailand earlier this month, the nation of 66 million people basked in the limelight and won praise for its industrial vision.
What, however, received less attention was an announcement by another big automobile manufacturer - Suzuki Motor - just a few weeks earlier that it will shutter a Thai factory that produced as many as 60,000 cars a year.
The Japanese automakers move mirrors those by scores of other companies in Southeast Asias second-biggest economy which is bearing the brunt of cheap imports from China and a slide in industrial competitiveness due to factors including rising energy prices and an ageing workforce.
Thailand has witnessed nearly 2,000 factory closures in the last year, upending its manufacturing sector that contributes nearly a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP).
It is weighing on the $500 billion economy and on workers such as Chanpen Suetrong.
The 54-year-old spent nearly two decades at the VMC Safety Glass factory in central Samut Prakan province, checking the automotive and building products that rolled off the production line.
Chanpen said she was unexpectedly told in April that the factory was shutting down, leaving her without a job. —Reuters
