Thailand’s Platers Rally to the Finish in the “Detroit of Asia”

While cars have been manufactured in Thailand since 1961, production really began to rev up in the late 1980s. That growth was fueled by investments made by Japan-based manufacturers of cars and pickup trucks following an unrelated currency agreement made by the Group of Five (G5) in 1985. Decisive policymakers at Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) later laid out a plan in 2004 to further transform the country’s automotive industry from a loose collection of knock-down kit assemblers to a well-oiled ecosystem of locally-produced vehicles and, more importantly, parts. As seen in other more mature automotive…