Company and government officials salute Mitsubishi’s 2
millionth vehicle built in Thailand.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors celebrated the production of 2
million vehicles at its Laem Chabang Industrial Estate factory by confirming
it will spend another 15 billion baht for a third plant that will employ
another 3,000 people.
Industry Minister Chaiwut Bannarat and Mitsubishi
President Osamu Masuko toasted the manufacturing milestone at a July 5 party
at the Sriracha facility. Masuko said Thailand’s automotive workforce has
proved it is well-equipped and well-supported by the government. That
support, he added, creates confidence among foreign automakers, who continue
to grow the market.
That growth will take the form of a third Mitsubishi car
plant set to open in March 2012. The factory, to be built near the existing
Laem Chabang plant, will produce small, inexpensive “eco-cars,” the
company’s first strategic environmentally-friendly vehicle for the global
market. The production line likely will create 3,000 new jobs and turn out
about 200,000 cars per year.
It’s also the third major car manufacturer in two weeks
to announce Thailand expansion plans. Ford Motor Co. said last month it
would invest $450 million in a new plant in Rayong to produce 150,000
passenger vehicles for both domestic and export sales beginning with the new
model of Ford Focus compact sedan. And Toyota Motor Thailand plans to invest
4 billion baht to expand its plant in Chachoengsao to 200,000 units per
year. General Motors earlier this year also announced a new Thai factory.
Mitsubishi Motors started in Thailand in 1987 and
currently operates two plants with an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles
per year. Currently it produces the Lancer EX, Space Wagon, Triton and
Pinero Sport for sale in Thailand. It exports the Triton and Pajero Sport as
well.
Ongoing oil exploration in the Gulf of Thailand, designed to
cope with Thailand’s rising demand for oil and gas, and enable the country to
enjoy energy self-sufficiency, is safe and poses no negative impact on
environment as feared by tourism operators, a senior Energy Ministry official
said.
Mineral Fuels Department Director-General Kurujit Nakhonthap
said tourism operators on Koh Samui off the southern province of Surat Thani, a
favorite destination for tourists in Thailand, have objected to drilling and
exploring for petroleum in the Gulf for fear that the actions might affect the
environment in the area.
Oil exploration and production in the Gulf have been
conducted for over 35 years and there is a need for exploration to continue as
Thailand wants to depend less on oil imports, and produces only 40 percent of
its total consumption, said Kurujit.
Reasoning that oil exploration in the Gulf is different to
that being carried out in the Gulf of Mexico as exploration there is 40-100
nautical miles offshore at a depth of 30-80 meters along with low pressure and
installation of blow out preventers and safety valves, tourism operators on Koh
Samui should not be too worried, Kurujit said.
Most importantly, the Gulf of Thailand contains mainly
natural gas while the Gulf of Mexico contains crude oil at about 1.6 kilometers
deep and therefore has high pressure, he said.
Chances for oil leaks in the Gulf of Thailand are very slim,
unlike the Gulf of Mexico, he said.
He was referring to the current oil leak from a blowout Gulf
of Mexico well owned by BP, a British energy giant firm. The US government
estimates the well is leaking a maximum of 60,000 barrels a day while
independent estimates have been much higher.
More than 5,000 wells have been drilled in the Gulf of
Thailand over nearly 40 years and no accident affecting the environment has ever
occurred, Kurujit said confidently. (MCOT online news)
