BANGKOK, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Three U.S. car manufacturers have planned to increase their investments in Thailand, Kiat Sithi-amorn, a Thai trade representative, said on Wednesday in an interview with local media.

The three corporations includes Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Crysler as each has the expansion plan in Thailand worth at least 10 billion baht (297.53 million U.S. dollars), said Kiat, Thai language news agency Thai Rath Online reported.

Apart from the auto corporations, Coca-Cola Company, will also put at least one billion baht (29.75 million U.S. dollars) more to expand the company's business operation in Thailand, Kiat said.

Also, Cargill has expressed its interest to establish a regional center to distribute agricultural products in this region, Kiat added.

Thailand's Board of Investment organized a luncheon roundtable, where chief executive officers of top U.S. firms had a chance to discuss about investments in Thailand directly with the Thai Prime Minister, Kiat said.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva went to New York to attend the 64th Session of the U.N. General Assembly and the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh from Sept. 21 to 27. He will join the G20 Summit as the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

As Prime Minister Abhisit has signaled that the Thai government will keep supporting foreign investments, U.S. investors, whose operations have already existed in Thailand, are more confident to invest, Kiat said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/...nt_12102986.htm

More offshore manufacturing.

I have no answers only questions. But have we in the West through design or accident given up our manufacturing industries that created our wealth and in turn are destroying our own economies?

We have high value currencies that allow cheap holidays to places like Thailand, but have those high value currencies priced us out of the only market that matters, making stuff? Why are our currencies so high, is it because they are fiat with no intrinsic value and have been manipulated or inflated up through gross stupidity?

How can any economy only import and have jobs only in the service and banking industries, where is the money and actual wealth really coming from when you sell nothing? Building houses and awaiting appreciation as seen doesn't work so where does our wealth actually come from these days?

I'm Australian and it exports commodities for others to value add, but many western countries don't export much any more as it is made cheaper elsewhere. What are the long term plans of those countries?

How do counties like the US and UK, only as obvious examples, just print money and run obscene deficits expecting (or lying to the population) to cure their ills of high unemployment, crashing real estate, utterly corrupt bailed out banking and reducing manufacturing. Why does this all seem like a con job? Why does there not seem to be mass rallys of the mighty p*ssed off looking for blood?