Industry and manufacturing[edit]
Women wearing gloves and masks on an assembly line
Production-line workers at a factory in Chachoengsao
In 2007 industry contributed 43.9 percent of GDP, employing 14 percent of the workforce. Industry expanded at an average annual rate of 3.4 percent from 1995 to 2005. The most important subsector of industry is manufacturing, which accounted for 34.5 percent of GDP in 2004.
Thailand is becoming a center for automobile manufacturing for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market. By 2004 automobile production reached 930,000 units, more than twice as much as in 2001. Toyota and Ford are active in Thailand, and the expansion of the automotive industry has increased domestic steel production. Thailand's electronics industry faces competition from Malaysia and Singapore, and its textile industry faces competition from China and Vietnam.[59]