New Factories In Thailand To Be Situated On Higher Ground

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WATCHDOG

New factories to be situated on higher ground: post flood crisis

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

A government body has proposed a new royal decree to consolidate the administrative powers on water resource management during future crises.

Pitipong Pungboon Na Ayudhaya, head of a subcommittee in charge of planning on the national committee on water resource management, said the proposed law will allow the government to tackle natural disasters such as massive floods more effectively.

In addition, a unified national database on water resources will be set up so that there will be a reliable system of early warnings to the public, to allow evacuation up to one week in advance.

The proposed new law will also integrate water resource data covering the industrial sector, factory locations, public utilities and residential areas.

The government will also focus on longer-term measures to improve water drainage by dredging existing canals to speed up water flow, and increasing the efficiency of water pumps and water-gates and related equipment, including telemeters, at a total of 392 water-level monitoring stations nationwide.

These proposed measures should help restore some investor confidence as certain factories in Ayutthaya province prepare to resume production following the massive inundation over the past two months.

About 10 of 140 factories are now ready to reopen at the High Tech Industrial Estate, for example. Earlier, some plants at Factory Land and Bang Pa-in industrial estates in Ayutthaya also resumed production.

Rojana and Saha Ratana Nakorn industrial estates will be the last two to reopen.

Rojana Industrial Park, home to Honda Automobiles and other major Japanese firms, has said it will invest in the construction of a permanent concrete wall, with a height of 5-6 metres above sea level, around its vast compound perimeter.

High Tech Industrial Park will also spend about Bt300 million to build 11 kilometres of new dykes at a height of 5.4 metres, up from the current 4.2 meters.

According to High Tech, the recent flood water reached a peak of 4.9 metres above sea level at its estate.

The country's worst floods in 50 years have significantly damaged a total of seven industrial estates in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani, where nearly 1,000 factories have been submerged.

Many existing production facilities for the electronics, automotive and other industries are unlikely to relocate in the short and medium terms, largely due to the high cost and time factors involved in relocating.

However, their new investments will be shifted to higher and drier places such as Amata, Hemaraj and other industrial parks on the Eastern Seaboard and in other regions.

Amata plans to launch a new sale of industrial land totalling 2,000 rai, while Hemaraj's new project has a total of 1,700 rai for sale.

At this stage, Japan's foreign direct investment in Thailand is expected to remain strong due to a number of factors.

First, the strong yen has resulted in reduced competitiveness for manufacturing in Japan. Second, the March tsunami in Japan has made it necessary to further diversify the risks of Japan's domestic production facilities.

According to the Amata Industrial Park, Toyota has confirmed that it will continue production activity in Thailand, while Honda Motors says it is considering moving its facilities for motorcycle production to Thailand,

This will lead to big-lot sales for an assembly plant and new contracts for supply of parts and components.

-- The Nation 2011-12-03

[KKvampire]

closing the stable door after the horse bolted

[ableguy]

Wow they thought this idea up themselves

[David48]

Honda Motors says it is considering moving its facilities for motorcycle production to Thailand,

Is that word 'to' a typo and was meant to be 'from' Thailand to another country?

[geriatrickid]

Honda Motors says it is considering moving its facilities for motorcycle production to Thailand,

Is that word 'to' a typo and was meant to be 'from' Thailand to another country?

Are you just lazy and unwilling to take 3 seconds and check the story out or are you of a negative disposition?

Honda Motor Co. is considering manufacturing motorcycles with engines bigger than 400cc in Thailand to lower costs and increase market penetration in emerging economies, sources said Monday. http://www.japantime...+All+Stories%29

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Honda Motor Co. is considering manufacturing motorcycles with engines larger than 400 cc in Thailand to lower costs and increase market penetration in emerging economies, sources familiar with the matter said Monday

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20111129a3.html

[David48]

Honda Motors says it is considering moving its facilities for motorcycle production to Thailand,

Is that word 'to' a typo and was meant to be 'from' Thailand to another country?

Are you just lazy and unwilling to take 3 seconds and check the story out or are you of a negative disposition?

Honda Motor Co. is considering manufacturing motorcycles with engines bigger than 400cc in Thailand to lower costs and increase market penetration in emerging economies, sources said Monday. http://www.japantime...+All+Stories%29

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Honda Motor Co. is considering manufacturing motorcycles with engines larger than 400 cc in Thailand to lower costs and increase market penetration in emerging economies, sources familiar with the matter said Monday

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20111129a3.html

Nope ... not lazy at all.

But given the provocative nature of the photo of a car manufacturing plant under water and a general review of manufacturing (which I would presume being carried out by foreign companies which have multi-million dollar operations here) it would not be unreasonable to suggest that there was a 'typo' or mistranslation of an English word.

big-lot sales for an assembly plant

could be interpreted as the assembly plant is being sold ... not that large lot vacant land industrial sites will be bought.

Additionally when we read the report that a tunnel will be dug 10 kilometres underground ... an obvious 'typo' it appears not so unreasonable assumption.

So not lazy ... just a questioning mind.

Based on your additional information ... my bad, and happy to admit it.

Edit my = by

Edited December 3, 2011 by David48

[Mosha]

Doi Inthanon could get crowded.

[Pib]

Maybe new factories should just adopted the old Thai method of buiding houses "on stilts/poles." At least it would keep the factory equipment dry.

[SantiSuk]

closing the stable door after the horse bolted

Sounds of stampeding horses are drowned out by the massed hordes of Chinese Thais mercs scouring the countryised for cheap higher ground. There must have been some big losses posted on parcels of low lying industrial land in the hands of wealthy families that need to be made up.

[connda]

Stilts?

[connda]

There's about 700 Hondas that are about to show up at your nearest 2nd hand car dealer to be sold to the sorriest sucker to walk by. I pity the poor chumps that buy them.