Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters last week that Ford Motor Co. has threatened to build a proposed $600 million plant elsewhere in Asia if the Thai government can’t resolve environmental challenges to new industrial construction in eastern Thailand.
Ford says only that unspecified ongoing assessments and a number of other factors need to come together before it can make a decision.
Neither the new Ford facility—nor any other auto-related factory—was among the 76 projects in the Rayong region suspended last fall under an injunction issued by a Thai administrative court. Those projects have been delayed pending an environmental impact assessment process. Fearing the delays could cause foreign manufacturers to shun Thailand, Bangkok is seeking to overturn the injunction. Rayong Governor Sayumporn Limthai says he is unaware of any opposition to the Ford plant.
The proposed Ford plant in Rayong is next to an existing plant run by its AutoAliance Thailand joint venture with Mazda Motor Corp., which builds cars and pickup trucks for local and export markets.