Silicone Oil in Thailand- Thailand's Industrial Development & Silicone Oil

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Cover Photo cited from: https://pixabay.com/zh/photos/beach-sea-sand-thailand-4852830/

Introduction to Thailand

Thailand is a middle-income developing country that implements a free economic policy and belongs to an export-oriented economy.

In history, Thailand was an agricultural country. In the mid-19th century, when Western countries opened the Thai market, their demand for rice, rubber, tin, and other raw materials stimulated Thailand's economic development. However, the economic pattern was single and the foundation was backward. Before World War II, there was almost no industry except for small-scale and low-tech rice milling, sawing, and mining. After World War II, the United States began to invest in Thailand, and Thai industry developed. In the 1950s, the government began to vigorously develop industry, striving to drive the development of the entire economy with industrialization as the center and achieving results. In 1959, the National Economic Development Commission was established (renamed as the National Economic and Social Development Commission - NESDB in 1972) and began to formulate a national economic development plan. Since the 1980s, active adjustments have been made to the industrial structure, introducing technology intensive and high value-added medium and light industries, and seeking a suitable industrial development model for Thailand, achieving good results. Manufacturing industries such as the electronics industry have developed rapidly and the economy continues to grow, making them one of the "Four Tigers" in Asia. In the 1990s, the government strengthened basic agricultural investment and promoted the development of manufacturing and service industries. In 1996, the per capita GDP reached $3035 and was classified as a middle-income country.

The Asian financial crisis that began in Thailand in 1997 dealt a heavy blow to the Thai economy, with an economic decline of 10.8% in 1998. In 1999, the economy began to recover. In the 21st century, the Thai government will prioritize the restoration and revitalization of the economy, adopt active fiscal and monetary policies, expand domestic demand, stimulate exports, and comprehensively implement plans to assist farmers such as the "three-year debt relief", "rural development fund", "one township, one product", and "30 baht for treating 100 diseases", resulting in a continuous improvement of the economy. In July 2003, the US $17.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the financial crisis was repaid two years in advance.

The 10th Five Year Plan for Social and Economic Development in Thailand, implemented in October 2006, set the goal of developing a "green and happy society", guided by the "moderate economy" advocated by the King of Thailand, to create a harmonious and sustainable growth environment throughout the country and improve Thailand's ability to withstand risks. The 2008 global financial crisis had a profound impact on the outward oriented Thai economy, coupled with domestic political turmoil, causing the Thai economy to experience its largest recession in recent years. In 2009, Thailand's GDP decreased by 2.3%. In 2010, Thailand's economy fully recovered and despite experiencing negative factors such as political issues and natural disasters, it still achieved a high growth rate of 7.8%.

In the first three quarters of 2011, Thailand's economy still maintained a growth of 3.1%. In the fourth quarter, affected by the catastrophic flood, industry, agriculture and tourism were all impacted. The GDP in the current quarter grew by 9% negatively, dragging down the annual economic growth to 0.1%. According to World Bank estimates, the flood caused economic losses in Thailand to reach 1.4 trillion Thai baht (approximately 46.7 billion US dollars).

Thailand has been implementing the 11th Five Year Plan for Social and Economic Development since 2012. This plan continues to implement the "moderate economy" advocated by the King of Thailand.

Industrial Transformation of Thailand

As a traditional agricultural country, Thailand's economic structure has undergone significant changes with the rapid development in recent years. Although agriculture still holds an important position in the national economy, the proportion of manufacturing in its national economy has been increasingly expanding. The manufacturing industry has become the largest industry and one of the main export industries. A major feature of Thailand's industrialization process is to fully utilize its abundant agricultural product resources to develop food processing and related manufacturing industries. This industrial development model based on agricultural resources has made significant achievements in the past 20 years and will play a greater role in the future. At present, Thailand's main industrial products include clothing, textiles, shoemaking, motors, electronics, transportation equipment, etc. The development momentum of the construction industry will continue in the coming years. Due to the prosperity of the construction industry, there will be a shortage in the building materials market, such as cement and steel, which currently rely on imports to supplement the shortage. To improve this situation, the government actively encourages the development of the building materials industry, and the supply and demand situation has eased. Currently, cement, ceramics, and sanitary equipment are developing rapidly.

The Chunburi area in the eastern region was originally an industrial and tourist area in Thailand, and during this period of 20 to 30 years, it has become a world-renowned tourist area and industrial center with the full development of the Thai government. The Thai government plans to plan this area as a high-tech industrial city and establish an advanced high-tech industrial center specifically for the export industry. The important export products produced include automobiles and their accessories, computers and parts, petrochemical industry, steel industry, etc. At the same time, it will focus on becoming a special promotion zone for multinational company investment, and will provide investment incentives, especially in terms of taxation, which will be the same as preferential treatment for entrepreneurs. Among them, Rayong province will be the primary city for enterprise development, followed by Beiliu Mansion, Saijiao, Bazhen, Chunfu, etc.

Applications of Silicone Oil in Thailand Industry

It is since several rapid developments of industries like automotive, cosmetics and industrialized agriculture, the demand on silicone oil is also increasing. For automotive, silicone oil could be used to make the films on car or to be the lubricant of manufacturing machine; for cosmetics, it could be the raw materials for them; for agriculture, silicone oil could be used in food processing or agriculture machine manufacturing. Today, besides the importation of silicone oil from China, EU and India, there are also some new companies that could directly manufacture silicone oil. Therefore, silicone oil industry has a bright future in Thailand.