Thai infrastructure

[drake]

by drake on Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:21 pm
How about industrial infrastructure instead of govt. admin ?
The ppl might get some real skills then.


by Voice on Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:07 pm
I do agree with you there drake Thailand need much of those infrastructure like railway and better motoway up North and Northeast.

So, now that we don't have the US to come in and build up roadways to connect their airbases together where do you suppose we will get the funding to make it happen ?

Assuming that we are capable of installing a decent transportation infrastructure, the next major hurdle is energy - electricity in particular. Where are we going to get that from ?

That aside.
It still amazes me that Thailand still does not have any sort of commercial semiconductor fab in operation in the country, not even the simple ones that crank out transistors/diodes and such that, technically, can be built from eBay scraps.

[Voice]

Drake wrote “So, now that we don't have the US to come in and build up roadways to connect their airbases together where do you suppose we will get the funding to make it happen ?

Assuming that we are capable of installing a decent transportation infrastructure, the next major hurdle is energy - electricity in particular. Where are we going to get that from ?

That aside.
It still amazes me that Thailand still does not have any sort of commercial semiconductor fab in operation in the country, not even the simple ones that crank out transistors/diodes and such that, technically, can be built from eBay scraps.

It’s not just US nowadays they Italian Thai, Japanese Thai, French Thai, Swiss Thai, Canadian Thai etc you name it we have it. When you talk about electricity we have Egat don’t you know that they just sell their electricity to our neighbour countries. I think our railway system is very old I think that should come first.

[drake]

Drake wrote “So, now that we don't have the US to come in and build up roadways to connect their airbases together where do you suppose we will get the funding to make it happen ?

Assuming that we are capable of installing a decent transportation infrastructure, the next major hurdle is energy - electricity in particular. Where are we going to get that from ?

That aside.
It still amazes me that Thailand still does not have any sort of commercial semiconductor fab in operation in the country, not even the simple ones that crank out transistors/diodes and such that, technically, can be built from eBay scraps.

It’s not just US nowadays they Italian Thai, Japanese Thai, French Thai, Swiss Thai, Canadian Thai etc you name it we have it. When you talk about electricity we have Egat don’t you know that they just sell their electricity to our neighbour countries. I think our railway system is very old I think that should come first.

Sorry, I meant to come in and build FREE roadways for Thailand and not 'partnership'.

[Voice]

Drake wrote “
Sorry, I meant to come in and build FREE roadways for Thailand and not 'partnership'.

What you said could be ideal for Thailand but the law and restriction need to be change. Of course Thai elites won’t allow that when they can enjoy joyride with foreigner partner and it could be some small change for those so call politician to keep their pocket full of change happy. Plus they could control the situation and money coming in as government policy shift every time they have new government. I really that one day there will some people strong enough to stand up and bring the change that could improve my country in positive way.

[drake]

What you said could be ideal for Thailand but the law and restriction need to be change. Of course Thai elites won’t allow that when they can enjoy joyride with foreigner partner and it could be some small change for those so call politician to keep their pocket full of change happy. Plus they could control the situation and money coming in as government policy shift every time they have new government. I really that one day there will some people strong enough to stand up and bring the change that could improve my country in positive way.

So, you are saying that there is no chance that someone like CP would diversify in to semiconductor manufacturing on it's own IF it thinks it can make a lot of money ?

[Voice]

drake wrote "So, you are saying that there is no chance that someone like CP would diversify in to semiconductor manufacturing on it's own IF it thinks it can make a lot of money ?

If so they probably done it a long time ago drake. CP got rich from chicken farm and bribes their way through. They didn’t get this far without help and of course they also have management from outside the country.

[drake]

drake wrote "So, you are saying that there is no chance that someone like CP would diversify in to semiconductor manufacturing on it's own IF it thinks it can make a lot of money ?

If so they probably done it a long time ago drake. CP got rich from chicken farm and bribes their way through. They didn’t get this far without help and of course they also have management from outside the country.

Voice, I'm just using said company as an example of someone in Thailand who has enough resource to boot up a fab.
I'm pretty sure the reason no Thai investor had ventured in to this arena is due to lack of understanding in semicon technology.
I mean, it doesn't really cost THAT much to boot up a simple solar cell mfg. plant for local consumption but nobody in Thailand had bothered. Too bad.

[drake]

drake,
I would suggest you read the following page; http://energy.sourceguides.com/business ... olar.shtml
Thailand has been making solar cells/semi conductors/hydro/etc for the last 15 years I know of. I was invited to a manufacturer's technology exhibition at Muang Thong Thani 15 years ago and all the technology you talk about was on display then.
The fact that it is not being promoted by the government as a clean alternative rests with the Thai bureaucracy. When I was asked if I would participate in a project bid by Kumagai Gugi I demurred for the simple reason I would have to submit the same documents to 7 different ministries, none of which knew what I was talking about with the exception of the Thai military.
The simple fact was, that unless trained overseas, the Thai Ministries "experts" had no technical knowledge in that area, so they just hid the documents to save face. Hence no approval would be forthcoming.
If you wish to find out about the problems involved, with the ministries involved, just go to the Board of Investment on Viphavadi Rangsit Rd. and talk to any of the foreign countries representatives. And Thais with vision have the same problems, hence they remain small!

Hello Roger,
When I said 'solar cell mfg. plant' I'm referring to a SemiConductor Fabrication facility and not assembler.
The kind of plant that takes blank silicon wafer in one side and produce finished solar cells out the other side.
My info has it that there are only module assembly houses in Thailand and they imports the cells from elsewhere.
Please correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Thai redtapes, apathy, lack of gray matter in subjects at hand, and unclued Phoo-Yais I'm familiar with.
You know, the overseas trained experts standing around nodding their heads in agreement but haven't got a clue what you are talking about kind of scenario.
Used to dine regularly with a DG of a dept in the Ministry of Industry back in the days so I think I've got enough data on how far up the creek the system is and how much grease it does take to get something going....

What I've been discussing with Voice here, though, is a what if scenario.
Let's say that if we are not impeded by the culture and existing constraints, what would we do to turn this country in to an industrialized economy like Taiwan, Korea, or Singapore.
What kind of practical infrastructure would be needed and what kind of activities are required.

It's a pipe dream but if we provide the visions someone might get ideas.
Got to start somewhere, right ?

[drake]

drake,
What would it take to turn around Thailand? Not much.

On the technical side of thing, beyond the corruption, politics, and culture. What is 'Not much'

[drake]

drake,
As I said, I found the crux of the matter to be the fiefdoms and the overlaps. The fact that public servants aren't public servants. Public servants serve the whole public, not just those at the top. Have you ever seen what happens at a ministry when one of the 5% actually visit? It shuts down completely, flowers are presented, tours are conducted, etc, ad nauseam. That defeats the whole purpose of serving the public, who, in reality, are paying their wages.

Rog, I know it well.
The issue with bum Civil Servants is not unique to Thailand, seems to me it's global.
More severe and blatant in LOS ? That is debatable.
We can spend all the bandwidth of the net spleening about it but the people problem just won't go away.
I would rather look for a way to get out of this dump rather than sits around and curse everyone else EVEN IF it's their fault.