BANGKOK, Thailand – Despite the devastating floods that hit Thailand in 2011, forcing a freeze in automotive and computer chip manufacturing critical to the global supply chain, the country’s GDP is expected to reach six percent this year according to the Bank of Thailand.

In fact, the latest Bloomberg Emerging Markets (www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-22/thailand-proving-best-after-china-among-global-emerging-markets.html) report ranked Thailand second only to China as one of the most-promising emerging and frontier markets for investors. Thailand was also ranked as the easiest place to do business of all top 15 emerging markets in the study.

Thailand’s government has invested over $11 billion in future flood defenses to protect the country’s infrastructure which plays a significant role in attracting major investments from the world’s most innovative companies, including GE, Ford, Kraft and Pfizer. The Thailand Board of Investment, the government’s investment promotion agency, recently reported that despite flooding, foreign investment applications for Thailand increased by 92 percent year-over-year in the first two months of 2012, to over $5 billion.

“Thailand’s strategic location at the center of Asia is an asset that will only increase as the new industrial economies and their populations’ GDP and purchasing power rise,” said Atchaka Sibunruang, Secretary-General of the Thailand Board of Investment.

“Our country’s world-class infrastructure is comprised of well-developed supply chains for automotive and technology manufacturing and our workforce has a knowledge base in those industries that has advanced for decades. These strong economic fundamentals will continue to solidify Thailand as a leading economic power in the future.”

Thailand’s strengths lie in its position as the largest car manufacturer in Southeast Asia and the producer of around 40 percent of the world’s computer hard disk drives. The country’s vast natural resources have also made it the world’s top producer of rubber, the second largest exporter of sugar and the top rice exporter. These assets, along with quick access to 575 million of Southeast Asia’s consumers, make the country a prime investment location for multinationals in the decades ahead.

With manufacturing expected to fully recover to pre-flood levels by the end of the second quarter, and domestic and export markets on the rebound from the global financial crisis, Thailand’s location at the center of Asia’s rapidly expanding consumer market looks ever more attractive to future investors.

For more information about the Thailand Board of Investment, visit www.thinkasiainvestthailand.com.

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At least 283 people have been killed in Thailand by unseasonably wet weather affecting two million people and forcing more than 40,000 people to flee their homes. Thailand is witnessing the worst flooding in half a century – submerging cities, industrial parks and ancient temples as it comes.

According to Save The Children, an estimate of up to 500,000 young people may have been affected by the disaster while thousands of roads and bridges and hundreds of buildings have been damaged and swathes of land remain swamped by flood waters. The Thai cabinet has allocated 6.13bn Baht to help flood victims.

According to the public health ministry, Nakhon Si Thammarat is the worst affected area where one person is missing. Australian Ben Garden, who flew into Koh Samui for a friend’s wedding on Friday, described the situation as “scary and dire.”

According to Smith Dhamasarojana, a former director-general of Thailand’s Meteorological department, authorities in Thailand did not release enough water from the dams earlier this year because they feared water shortages in the dry season. According to him, authorities miscalculated the amount of rainfall and they also failed to manage the water.

The monsoon season this year has brought disaster to Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam well as Thailand. Thousands of people have been displaced as typhoons have literally battered the country to pieces. Thousands of tourists have been stranded as trains to the region have been canceled and three airports have been shut.

Many Australians are among more than 15,000 tourists trapped on holiday islands after the storms and floods hit southern Thailand. A tourist association spokesman said that about 13,000 tourists have been trapped on Koh Samui alone, and that they have advised tourist to stay in hotels and not to travel to the airport until the situation returns to normal.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who visited the area, ordered the evacuation of everyone living in the region. The Thailand Government said it was deploying its only air craft carrier to rescue 1000 people stranded in the region. Economic toll of these floods can’t be easily valued precisely at the moment, but according to reports, floods have already inundated many industrial parks and manufacturing centers.

In areas where flood water have breached walls of industrial estates, Honda and Toyota industry has been forced to shut down their assembly plants. Economist fear that Thailand’s most severe floods in decades may cost the country up to $5 billion and may reduce its Gross Domestic Product by about one percent.

Thor Jorgen Udvang / Shutterstock.com

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