Textile is a major industry of Thailand. Among the manufacturing industries, it is the top contributor to the GDP. In 1992, it accounted for 6.3 % of total GDP and 22.4 % of that of the manufacturing sector. It also accounts for 14.5 % of the total export value and employs 3.5 % of people on a total industry basis and accounts 27.9 % (1993) of the manufacturing industry.
Especially, the clothing manufacturing occupies a half of the total industry and has actually been the leader of the Thailand textile industry.
(5) Electric/electronic appliance industry
Since its start in the 60's, the electric and electronic appliance industry of this country has grown rapidly thanks to the abundant labor and stable political environment as well as the active investments by companies from Japan, Europe, the U.S. and the NIES countries. It is now recognized as one of the international manufacturing centers like Malaysia.
The Japanese investments exceed the other countries by far such as Taiwan, the U.S., Hong Kong, and Singapore.
(6) Tourism
International tourism are important sources of foreign currencies. Tourism outscores any other export businesses in terms of foreign currencies earned and contributes to the Thailand economy a great deal. 5.76 million tourists visited Thailand in 1993.
Regional breakdown of the tourists: East Asia is the number one, accounts for 56.8 %, Europe 25.7 %, both North and South America 6.6 % followed by South Asia, Oceania and others.
If seen by country, adjacent Malaysia is the top followed by Japan. It is estimated that almost 7 million tourists will visit the country in 1996.
