Abstract:
This research aims to study the impact of measures to support the AEC and Thailand's Rubber Latex industry sector..By using the Delphi technique. The sample groups in this study included experts who are entrepreneurs or executives within the organization and are registered as members of the Thai Rubber Latex Association. A total of 17 people participated in the study between June and December 2012. Three sets of research questionnaires were used. The results revealed four issues as shown below
Due to the fact that Malaysia in the co-ordinator exporter of latex and rubber products. This leads to indirect impact on the local conditions in the Thai Latex and Rubber industry. While Malaysia has focused on the production of value added latex products, Thailand has just exported latex as a raw material. Thailand has to overcome important difficulties in order to reduce the lead that Malaysia has at this moment. For example, even if Thai Government pays a higher storage allowance to Latex producers, the overall Latex storage costs are higher in Thailand than they are in Malaysia. This leads to a higher export cost for Thai latex than for Malaysia latex. Moreover, the policy on Thai rubber export Cess which is higher than neighboring countries makes it difficult and more expensive on logistics. Thai Government should increase the storage allowance in order to lower the latex export costs to the same level as in Malaysia. Thailand should also diversify its latex industry and change its focus from exporting latex as a raw material to exporting as a value added product. In addition the current legislation governing the Thai latex and rubber industry should be brought in line with the ASEAN Economic Community regulations for a better economic integration.
The second issue concerns with the Chinese market. Currently the shipments to the Chinese market are very advantageous from a logistic and economic point of view. Unfortunately Thailand is set to lose market share in China to neighbouring countries like Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. These countries have expanded their latex industry and plantations at a very high rate. Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar share a common border with China, so their transport costs are lower than the transport costs that the Thai producers have to pay. In addition, currently many workers employed by the Thai latex industry come from these neighbouring countries. Most likely, in the future, these workers will go back to their country of origin taking with them the knowledge they accumulated working in the latex industry. Therefore Thailand should increase their investment and expand their production base in these countries for a more rapid development. In order to meet all these challenges, Thailands transport infrastructure should be developed so it allows for better coverage and transport connections to these countries. These new developments should be assessed and a new plan should be put together in order to meet the new challenges faced by the Thai latex industry and also asses the future demand for labour.
The third issue is related to the liberalization of investment regulations in the Thai latex industry. As a consequence of the liberalization, foreign investors might acquire Thai latex production facilities and plantations and compete with local Thai producers. While a small part of the Thai latex industry might be closed down as a consequence, the industry as a whole might benefit from the introduction of new technologies. The Government should offer support and financial help to Thai producers in order to quickly introduce advanced techniques and new technologies which will make them more competitive compared to neighbouring countries.
The fourth issue concerns the quality of the rubber product. With the high competition of rubber industry from neighboring countries, this results in the lower quality of the Thai rubber products due to the unqualified rubber from other sources. This impacts the export of Thai latex. There should be an organization to control the product quality and support the financial fund. The measurement should be on the inspection of the latex before the industrial process. Moreover. There should be the cooperation among Thai latex product cluster to increase the product proficiency.