BANGKOK, May 28 — Sales of motorcycles in Thailand have risen sharply due to a higher demand by general election canvassers as they find it is more convenient to approach eligible voters, especially in rural areas than pick-up trucks widely used in previous elections, a senior industry ministry official said.
Suttinee Poopaka, director-general of Industrial Economics Office, said election candidates have changed their strategies for the general election to be held on July 3, where many have decided to use motorcycles instead of pick-up trucks to approach eligible voters, causing sales to increase significantly.
As billions of baht change hands with the election slightly more than one month away, Vallop Tiasiri, president of Thailand Automotive Institute, said he believed canvassers would not be reluctant to buy new motorcycles for use in campaigning for votes.
Mr Vallop projected that this year’s motorcycle production in Thailand would be around two million units, up from 1.8 million units last year.
Production of motorcycles during the first four months this year in the country totaled about 140,000 units, up from 130,000 units from the corresponding period of 2010, whiles sales rose approximately 12 per cent to 150,000 units. Exports during the same period stood at 87,000 units.
Car production this year is expected at about 1.8 million, up from more than 900,000 last year, despite the slowdown in auto parts production in Japan due to the massive quake and tsunami which hit that country on March 11. (MCOT online news)
