Laem Chabang is Thailand’s largest container port and I
happened to spend an afternoon on one of the port’s tug boats.
Laem Chabang is
the primary exit point for the export of stuff manufactured in Thailand’s
industrial heartland; namely the provinces of Chonburi, Rayong, and
Chachoengsao. What is made in Thailand covers a wide spectrum. For example,
Caterpillar and Komatsu make heavy earth moving equipment, Ducatti makes
motorcycles, Titleist makes golf balls, STP&I assembles for the huge LNG
facilities being built in Australia, and the list goes on.
One of the primary export items to move through Laem Chabang
is vehicles. The before-mentioned provinces form “The Detroit of the East”.
Mitsubishi, Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Isuzu, and Chevrolet all have their factories
there – Toyota furthermore has its original plant in Samut Prakarn – and they
all export large quantities of vehicles to ASEAN, Japan, Australia, New Zealand
and even further away.
The picture above shows one of the car terminals with lots of
Toyotas. The few vehicles pointing inland have just been off-loaded (imported
from Indonesia) while the rest are ready to be driven onboard the car carrier.
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