The Past, Present, and Future of Wooden Business of Thailand
The documents are from the official website of Forestry Industrial Organization of Thailand
Thailand contains its area approximately 513,115 sq.km. the length from the northern to
southern part of 1,620 km. and the eastern to western part of 775 km. in 1962,
the forest area remained approximately 51% of the country's area. At present, it
remains approximately 25%. The past four decades, the forest area was decreased
80 million rai or in average of 2 million rai per year. Whenever the forest area
was decreased, the population in this country denounced that it was occurred
from the persons who liked to cut and destroy the forest. This made the persons
having profession of sawing mill be disgusted to the society with implication.
Despite the facts are that most of the wood entered to the sawing mill will be
the big-sized wood only. When cutting wood, usually, we don't cut the small
wood; we will leave it to grow in replacement because the
persons who like to cut wood for sawing are
not the real ones. Most of the forest are destroyed from cutting it for
agriculture. It is natural of agricultural countries which need to expand the
land for loving under the number of population increased. It is strange that the
government cancelled the wooden concession from 1989 but the forest area is
decreased continuously. Whenever the country is developed until it is beyond
from the agricultural income, the classification of exploiting the land is done
efficiently coupled with the actions that the population absorb and acknowledge
the forest value which is the origin of the lasting survival system of
humankind, as a result, the forest will stop being destroyed and acted in the
contrary.
Whether we observe or not that the forest is to natural resource created in new
replacement. However, the relevant person becomes the accused of the society.
While the natural resources are being employed and used up whether the brick,
stone , soil, sand, mineral in the soil or cement swallowed and made many
mountains lost by means of human-beings, these human beings can live in the
society without disgust.
The Thai forest is classified in the area of tropical and damp forest near the equator. It is the forest type of having abundance and very high biological varieties when comparing with the western forest area. The forest growth rate of the same type planted in the tropical and damp forest area is higher than other areas for 2 or 3 times. The type of tropical forest area that the Thai people know well and is famous in the world market for a long time is "Teak". There are evidenced confirming that human-beings have know the excellent qualifications and exploited the teak continuously for two thousand years. Besides, it still exists Pterocarpus, Genus Dalbergia (Blackwood), Dalbergia, Diospyros, which are all the excellent wood entirely. The teak is the high quality one coupled with Thailand all the time throughout. In the past, the teak was the important export product and made income for the country and the main product which recovered the national crisis07 in the period that the powerful countries forced us to indemnify due to the world war. The revenue of the country comes from exporting the teak and other wood. In the past, it appeared the statistical record continuously for a long time until the year 1977, the government announced the prohibition of exporting the log and the processed wood. As a result, the direction of its wooden business was modified to be the wooden production by itself in order to increase the value in substitution of the export in the from of raw materials under the former from. From the less quantity of its forest together with the expansion of wooden industry in the country, it makes Thailand start importing the wood from abroad in order for both self-exploitation and production for its export. Most of the wood imported are still the one from the neighboring countries which have the wooden type being adjacent to Thai wood. For developing the wooden industry of Thailand in the past period of a few decades, it was deemed as the important change of the wooden society and the adaptation to the base of the wooden business at present. Also, it was the termination of the era of the wooden factory Chinese contractor who transmits his business to the heir finishing the high education and having the changeable business aspect together with the joint venture with the foreign countries, it caused the wooden industry both the moderate and bog size more and more. Thailand has change it face from the exporter of raw materials to the bog importer of raw materials of the world bath from the neighboring regions and all over world. The wooden business has been divided from the sawing mills in the past into the furniture factory, plywood mill, paper pulp mill, MDF factory, household industrial factory, etc. Moving the technology has been started occurring in this era. The production base for its export has been transferred to Thailand and Southeast Asia with readiness of cheaper labor wage, having the sufficient and suitable raw materials and skill of craftsmen. Thailand has adapted itself to be the important producer of wooden products for export of the world with full of pride. From the growth result of wooden industry occurred continuously, it makes us have more wooden requirements and shortage. In this period, some wooden types such as, para rubber cut out for planting it again in replacement of the former one, given less gummy and formerly advanced uselessly due to the depreciatory quality of its wood quickly, has been brought to test and develop the methods of its exploitation successfully. It causes the great benefits decorated in the wooden furniture society of Thailand until it is the important economic wood made the highest revenue in the group of wooden furniture for its export at present and also is the important product of the country continuously forever.
There was still the important history occurred in the
wooden society of Thailand in the period of fifteen years ago and it should be
noted down as well. That is, in 1988, the government announced the cancellation
of wooden concession all over the country with a necessary reason of conserving
the forest resource remained limitedly to exist forever for conserving the
natural balance. This event seemed to effect to the wooden being grown greatly.
However, at that time, the government and some Thai private sectors had a
concession contract with government. Myanmar was ready to respond the
requirement of using the wood of Thailand by opening the border for permitting
Thailand to enter to make a wooden concession along the frontier. In conclusion,
every party could gain and gain or win and win
certainly.
Importing the wood from the neighboring countries including Cambodia and Laos
was the prosperous period of wooden concession business of Thailand. At present,
the wood from these neighboring countries are still the important and continuous
base. Some countries have changed the condition of export by facilitating the
benefit with its own country or increasing the value of products more. From
importing more raw materials, it results the wooden business to expand itself as
per the value of export increased and the proportion to GDP also expands itself.
Simultaneously, the overall world economy has been grown and the number of
requirement of using the wood in the world have been increased while the wooden
production quantities of some groups are reduced as well as taking advantage and
disadvantage of the international competitions, it results the domestic wood
market has its adaptation by dividing the groups of the requirement of using the
wood in each category to be more obvious. The wood from the forest planted
inside the country is produced to enter the market as well as the para rubber
wood that it is exploited severally and the quantity more until it can possess
the highest proportion of exporting the wooden furniture as present. Other than
the eucalyptus wood has the important role in the pulp and paper society which
it has grown quickly as well as the teak of garden which enters to replace the
wood usage of these local
communities.
All
these, they are the changes of Thai wood business society after the prohibition
of the wood export in 1977 and the concession cancellation in
1988.
In the future, what is way of Thai wooden business, it may have the answer unclearly. At present if we separate the wooden business group as per the type of using raw materials will be composed of 4 group i.e. the first group is original business that it is the sawing mill, wooden trade mill and the wooden products of general, this group use the raw materials both of inside and outside country. The second group is the factory of furniture production and parts of wood increased more i.e. the complex factory and medium factory and small factory that produced the production for importing and using inside the country, this group uses a lot of wood qualities and has the added value of the highest raw materials, its raw materials used, the factory has gotten from processed wood by itself and received from the first group. This group includes the use of the para rubber wood produced for exporting. Currently gross value of the wooden furniture approximately 2.8 ten thousand million baht per year. In this number, as the products made from the para rubber approximately 70%, expending rate 8-10 per year. There is important trading party countries i.e. the United States of American and Japan, the secondary group is the pulp and paper industries group and MDF factory using the wood from planted forest by having the eucalyptus, para rubber and bamboo are main raw materials. The domestic requirement in order for supplying the pulp to the pulp factory approximately 3 million ton excluding to the pieces of wood required by the export market unlimitedly. In parts of MDF factory use raw materials approximately 4 one hundred thousand ton. This group lacks raw materials for the efficient production and cannot import raw materials as well as the other group because the restriction of the low raw materials price per unit is not worth of expenses which these are transported with the far distance. The last group is for use in localities and families, mostly, they use raw materials inside the country and there is the fiexibility as per the number and the category of the materials supplied at that time.
The above classification can see the picture in one
dimension to be able to state the growth or reduction trend of wooden business
in each category. The keys of any business i.e. raw materials quantity in hand,
the business groups of para rubber are brightest because there are bases for the
strong carrying because of the policy of para rubber promotion of the government
systematically and the high up price of gummy continuously, these are the
motivations to increase the area which it means that the old rubber plant will
be the important stock in the future and gradual to enter the market
continuously for the group that shall depend on the raw materials source from
neighboring countries that it has the important part of the promotion of
wooden industry of Thailand in the past period of a few decades although it will
have the reduced trend because of the quantity of wood in natural forest reduced
and from increasing the restriction of export for increasing raw materials value
or supporting the occupation to have the people in the locality, it is believed
that the import of foreign wood will still continue in a period, especially,
from the countries that have the low national income will depend on the raw
materials export and will continue until the operator will still enable to
compete with the competitive countries. The anxious group is the group that uses
raw material from the planted forest both of the teak and eucalyptus because of
planting the forest to be the long time investment, cannot harvest speedily to
be like the other plant, the planters lack current income for earning their
lives as well as the price factor doesn't be the motivation, although,
currently, the price of raw materials increased. The lack of raw materials may
press the operator to have the satisfied yield to the agriculturalists and may
invest for creating raw materials by themselves from planted area both of inside
or outside country are
joined.
Finally,
the truthfulness of the supply and demand with the market machine will have the
role automatically until the business balance occurred in the past time of all
eras.
No
businesses that has bound and helped together with more then the wooden business
society because in the past time they may fight with claiming the advantage
extremely or may have more different and complex machine than the other
business. This one, it causes to have the ancestors shall return together with,
depend each other, therefore, they bind their occupation profoundly, although,
some time shall have some things separated but it cannot stand for a long time.
May the person concerned with this occupation keep and continue this convention,
from the generation to the generation is good each other, soon, the wooden
business will be accepted from the sociality honorably.
Currently, the world size
is reduced by the progressive communication system, the concentrated trade
competition occurred every time, the stage of free trade opened unlimitedly, all
these cause to result to the wooden business as well. The operator who has the
readiness of the adaptation under the world flow only will survive. If we see
far away from ourselves, Indonesia and Malaysia are not the important competitor
onwards. Opening the People's Republic of China and Vietnam country will be the
important competitor onwards. The advantages in the field are cheaper and more
labor, the diligence and endurance as well as the skill of craftsmen, all these
we are aware of and cannot look over. However, currently, from the strong base
in the wooden business of Thailand as well as the efficient cooperation between
the governmental and private sectors, the created bind in outstanding wooden
business, totally, these will be the factor supporting Thai wooden business
grown and competed in the world stage efficiently, one thing, how to the
operator will use the advantage existed jointly with our strategy or identity to
have the business resulted?........