| Abstract | The global non-woven industry is worth over USD 22 billion in 2009. Textile non woven market in Thailand is not doing well particularly in year 2006 and 2007. The reasons are strong baht, rising oil prices, competition from China, India and other countries in Asia Pacific. But there is strong possibility that in long run this trend may change and we may see good growth of textile non woven production. Thailand is an appropriate place in Asia Pacific for ripe growth in textile non wovens. The reasons are plenty. There is a large domestic market. For non woven textile, large initial capital investment is required and labour force required is small. This changes the dynamics of textile industry where there is requirement of more labour. In long run, Thailand seems to fit into this model because large work force employed can move into different industries like chemical, steel, petroleum, services etc. and there won't be mass unemployment. Government of Thailand should reduce the import duties on raw materials used in non wovens which are currently as high as 40 per cent. Other factors are also important like whether association of non-woven fabrics in Thailand provides technology support and marketing assistance to the non-woven textile industry in the country. Marketing assistance such as buyback programmes would encourage more players to enter into non- woven textile segment. Similarly, the association should help the foreign non-woven manufacturing units that are interested in entering Thailand to start operations here. The association should also assist the interested investors here with project consultancy and technology guidance. The eight countries - China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines - currently produce about 25% of all non-woven fabrics worldwide. Demand for non-woven textiles in developing countries in Asia currently exceeds their domestic capacity by 50% or more. |