INDUSTRIAL ZONE TRANSFORMS LITTLE LAMPHUN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000123 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ELAB EINV TH SUBJECT: INDUSTRIAL ZONE TRANSFORMS LITTLE LAMPHUN CHIANG MAI 00000123 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. Summary: While agriculture and tourism dominate the economy of northern Thailand, an industrial zone in Lamphun has brought in foreign investment and new employment opportunities to the region. Growth in turn has brought sprawl, hazardous waste, labor concerns and social disruption to the sleepy town and surrounding province 30 km south of Chiang Mai. End summary ¶2. With a population of only 400,000, Lamphun is ONE of the least populated provinces in Thailand. A 1983 policy decision by the central government to decentralize industry created the Northern Region Industrial Estate (NRIE) on the rural outskirts of the provincial capital, transforming the area around the ancient town. ¶3. Thanks to this industrial estate, now 20 years old, the province tops the northern region in foreign investment and per capita income (USD 3,454 in 2005). Exports grew rapidly in the past decade, increasing by 200 percent to USD 1.952 billion in 2006 vs USD 645 million in 1996. --- Women at Work --- ¶4. The estate has attracted a labor force of mostly young women from the north and northeast who assemble electronics, cut diamonds, and produce agricultural and other products including jewelry and accessories, optical lens, cosmetic and painting brushes, cigarette lighters, wire netting, aircraft interior parts and upholstery. From 14,000 employees in 1990, the NRIE has reached capacity with 76 plants employing 50,000 workers. Additional companies, such as PepsiCo/FritoLay, operate near but not in the industrial estate. ¶5. The NRIE, the first industrial estate in the northern region, was originally planned for agricultural processing, including a rice mill, noodle factory, and animal feed mills. When these didn't pan out, Japanese investors in the electronic assembly industry were attracted by the relatively low humidity of the region, a pool of young female laborers, lower-than-Bangkok wage scales, the proximity of Chiang Mai, and tax incentives. ¶6. Most of the work is labor intensive, with little technology transfer involved. Consulate visitors to Hana Microelectronics observed young women assembling small parts, many manufactured elsewhere, whose end application is still a few steps away. As at a number of other NRIE facilities, these parts are sent on to China for final finishing in products such as mobile phones and notebook computers. ¶7. With many of the components coming from other countries, Lamphun is only ONE stop along the international virtual assembly line. The value of goods exported from NRIE in 2006, USD 1.952 billion, exceeded the value of imports by USD 408 million. While officials acknowledge that these figures show only modest export benefit, they argue that the employment opportunities and spill-over effect on the service sector make significant contributions to the region's economy. --- Investment Incentives -------------- ¶8. The Board of Investment (BOI) made the NRIE attractive by offering maximum incentives, equal to those in the least-developed and three southern-most provinces. Basic incentives in "Zone 3", the RTG's target area of industrial decentralization, include the duty free import of machinery, corporate income tax exemption for eight years, and exemption from import duty on raw material used for export goods. In the NRIE, as in the least-developed provinces in Zone 3, additional incentives for investors go beyond the original eight-year period to include a 50 percent reduction of corporate income tax for an additional 5 years and double deduction from tax on transportation, electricity and water costs for an added 10 years. Chiang Mai BOI staff noted that the original Japanese investors in the industrial estate were also attracted by the geography and living conditions of Chiang Mai valley, which they found reminiscent of Japan. ¶9. Currently, 22 electronic assembly plants operate in the NRIE's duty-free or export processing zones. Women make up 70 percent of the total workforce. Japanese investment constitutes 65 percent of the total (USD 1.3 billion) followed by Americans at 21 percent (USD 410 million). Other investors are Thai, Korean, Swiss, Dutch, Taiwanese, French, Belgian and Indian. American investors include Innovex, Hana Microelectronics, Pioneer Hi-Bred, and FM Brush. --- First Labor Union --- ¶10. The NRIE spawned the first registered labor union in the region, formed in mid-2006 in the Israeli diamond cutting EFD Company with 500 of the 800 workers registered. Earlier efforts to organize five years ago with the support of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) failed when CHIANG MAI 00000123 002.2 OF 002 employers fired workers for attempts to organize. ¶11. Chiang Mai University labor expert Dr. Vorawit Charoenlert reported that labor unionists from Bangkok and the Friends of Women Foundation worked secretly for three months with local workers to collect enough names for registration. He sees this first union, Gemstones and Jewelry Labor Union, as a solid foundation for bargaining power in northern Thailand. Activities are now focused on empowering leaders and members, he said; the Friends of Women Foundation plans training on labor rights as well as social, political and economic topics. ¶12. In general, occupational HEALTH care and working conditions, rather than wages or financial benefits, are the major labor problem in Lamphun, according to Dr. Vorawit. Workers can earn up to Baht 10,000 a month with overtime, 50 percent more than wages outside the estate. However, most of the work requires good eyesight, ruling out older employees. HEALTH conditions are anotQr concern. In the early 1990s, twenty workers died mysteriously; while employers blamed AIDS, HEALTH officials and labor unionists suspected hazardous fumes from lead soldering combined with excessive overtime work. ¶13. Lamphun Province's Deputy Welfare and Labor Protection Officer, Sujintana Sritaraso, described working conditions in the electronic assembling plants as stressful, noting that "these young workers need to focus on the production line, with minimal conversation." Calculating that most workers will burn out after 5-6 years, she would like to see government training programs to prepare the workers for other occupations. She does not share Dr. Vorawit's optimism about the future success of labor unions, arguing that northern people are "softer" than workers in Bangkok. --- Burden or boon? --- ¶14. The sprawl around the industrial estates is overwhelming the ability of local administrators to cope with problems of city planning, sewage, and solid waste management. Waste water is polluting the canals and river; ONE source claims that underground water has been contaminated as well. Many villagers are unhappy over the new town that has risen next to the industrial estate, with dormitories, karaoke, shop houses, and supermarkets. Young workers spend their spare time in karaoke bars. Local tax goes to road construction, buildings, waterway improvement while education is underfunded. ¶15. With no incentives for laborers from other districts to change their household registration to Lamphun, central government subsidies of Baht 500 (USD 14) per person are allocated for only the registered population of 8,000. Danai Sarapruek, deputy manager of the Tambon Administration Organization (TAO) where the NRIE is located, noted that his district accommodates 300 dormitories, 200 restaurants and karaoke bars, which generate 30 tons of trash a day, and that the TAO has to cover the cost of waste collection and infrastructure for roads, drainage systems, and waterway improvement. Even though revenue from various taxes provides sufficient revenue to cover these expenses, Danai is unhappy that the TAO does not receive any subsidy from the central government for the more than 40,000 workers who are registered elsewhere. ¶16. In the face of so much population growth, social change, and pollution concerns, no government entity is prepared to manage the impact. The NRIE issues industrial operation and factory construction permits and is responsible for the control and treatment of all types of waste in the estate, but labor welfare, public health, and education issues are under the control of various central ministries and local governments, including the Ministries of Labor, Education, and Public Health, the TAO, the Provincial Public HEALTH Office, and Lamphun Municipality. ¶17. Comment: The industrial estate has brought jobs and new income into the regional economy while also creating service businesses and public facilities to support the manufacturing companies in the estates. However, the attendant problems are just now, after two decades, being recognized by the overlapping set of government offices with responsibility for the area. While the NRIE provides employment alternatives to migrating to Bangkok, it also transfers some of Bangkok's pollution and health issues to the province. The decentralization policy that led to setting up the industrial estate did not extend to giving authority or budgets to local authorities to help them deal with the social and environmental results. CAMP