3 replies to this topic

[zaphod]

The Rayong province is home to many auto parts manufacturers and auto factories. They are spread out among the various industrial estates, particularly in Maptaphut and the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate in the northern part of the province. These factories are bound to see layoffs, as the economic prediction is that there will be a 35% drop in Thai auto production in 2009. Laid-off workers, understandably, can cause civil unrest problems.

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Auto workers upset over dismissals[BangkokPost, 24/12/2008]
More than 500 former staff of an auto company blocked Sukhumvit Highway in Rayong province on Wednesday to demand that the company explain why they were ordered to stop working last month. The order caused more than 3,500 workers of Autoalliance Co Ltd to be laid off as of Nov 27. Their protest completely blocked all vehicles trying to enter and leave Rayong and the Maptaphut industrial port.

[Bryan]

very bad news, very sad to hear that

[sbcp]

many of the companies are working 4 days/week now, meaning the shopping centers are full on Friday
You'd think they'd stay home or go looking for extra income instead of blowing their hard-earned shopping, LOL

[zaphod]

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Minister: Auto Industry Still Surviving [Bangkok Post, 4/05/2009 at 01:08 PM]

Thai auto manufacturers have not gone out of business despite the severe impact from the global economic crisis, Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungrueang said. Although the orders and sales had declined sharply, none of the local auto manufacturers had shut down their plants, Mr Charnchai said on Monday. However, some of them had stopped operating temporarily so the number of cars manufactured and the amount of sales would match, he said.

The minister said the government had organised workshops for workers, aimed at reducing the number of lay-offs while getting them prepared once the economy starts to recover. He said General Motors (Thailand) continued operating normally and it did not experience problems. However, the company asked the Ministry of Industry to help gather funds for constructing a new diesel engine production plant.

He said the ministry had a policy to assist all foreign investors equally and it had asked the Finance Ministry to consider if the company can seek loans in the country. The plan of cutting automobile prices to stimulate demand did not work out well, the minister admitted. As a result, the Industry Ministry had cooperated with the Finance Ministry to allow state-owned banks, including Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development Bank, Export-Import (Exim) Bank and Islamic Bank of Thailand, to prepare funds for strengthening the manufacturers' liquidity.