On December 9, the Thai government announced that since taking measures to curb the import of low-quality products, the amount of low-quality imported products has decreased by 20%, mainly coming from cheap goods from China.
Thai government spokesperson Sasikarn Wattanachan stated that since tightening regulations and inspections in July, the import value of low-quality goods in Thailand has significantly decreased.
Measures have been taken to combat imported products that do not meet local standards, with a focus on agriculture, consumer goods, and industrial products. Official data released by the Thai government revealed that counterfeit goods, shirts, shoes, and e-cigarettes worth 506 million Thai Baht (approximately 15 million USD) have been confiscated.
In addition, Thailand started imposing a 7% value-added tax (VAT) on goods valued under 1,500 Thai Baht (around 44 USD) since July. So far, the Ministry of Finance has collected 707 million Thai Baht (approximately 21 million USD) in VAT.
However, a senior customs official noted that this tax seems to have little impact on consumers as the transportation volume of goods valued under 1,500 Thai Baht from e-commerce platforms has doubled compared to last year. The value of these imported goods amounts to 24.9 million Thai Baht (about 740,000 USD), showing a 50.4% increase from last year.
Cheap goods from China have disrupted the local manufacturing and commercial sectors in Thailand, leading to factory closures and unemployment, prompting the business community to urge the government to take action.
In late October, Thai Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan convened a meeting with 16 government agencies to discuss measures to combat the influx of cheap and low-quality goods imported from China.
Representatives from these government agencies formed a committee responsible for addressing foreign goods and illegal business-related issues, which then established two sub-groups.
The first subgroup aims to support Thai small and medium-sized enterprises and combat low-quality goods from abroad. It will implement measures to control product quality and negotiate with online platforms to ensure the quality of imported products. The second subgroup will focus on combating nominated foreign companies.
While Pichai did not directly accuse China, it is well known that online platforms such as Temu and Lazada sell cheap Chinese-made products.
However, some businesses feel that these measures may have come too late.
The owner of a wholesale sock store told Reuters that his store’s sales from June to October this year dropped by 80% compared to the same period last year.
He said, “Customers used to come to buy cheap socks – each set for 120 to 130 Thai Baht, but now they’re not buying them anymore… They are now purchasing Chinese socks for 75-85 Thai Baht per set and reselling them for 10 Thai Baht per pair.”
(This article references reports from Reuters and NationThailand)