Published on 17/06/2013 TAI moves to 'Plan B' for R&D centre after state drags its feet The Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI) plans to spend 200 million baht to expand its testing centre since the government has made little progress in moving ahead with a proposed new one. President Patima Jeerapaet said the TAI will ask for board approval in August or September. Of the planned budget, 170 million baht will be spent on four-wheel testing machines and the rest to renovate testing centre buildings. The TAI's present testing centre is in Samut Prakan's Bang Pu Industrial Estate. Once the additional budget wins approval, the new facility is expected to be up and running in next year's third quarter. "This is our Plan B to boost Thai automotive competitiveness," said Mr Patima More importantly, it will greatly benefit 3,000 to 4,000 auto-parts makers." The TAI last October sought financial support from the Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development (SCRF) or its plan to set up a facility at a cost of 8 billion baht. It is expected to serve the regional auto industry. The TAI has proposed the government establish a testing centre in line with the Asean requirement of beefing up standards in 19 automotive industry categories. Vehicles tested at the centre would need no further testing in other countries. Thai vehicle assemblers currently need to ship their products to be tested in India, Taiwan or Spain whenever a new series is launched. Under the TAI plan, three proposed locations for the testing centre, which will cover at least 200 rai, are the Gateway City, Amata City and Hemaraj industrial estates, as they are close to automobile assembly plants.
But SCRF member Payungsak Chartsutipol in April said the government is instead considering collecting contributions from car makers to raise money for a testing and research and development (R&D) centre. Contributions of 500 to 1,000 baht per vehicle sold are being mulled. The SCRF has also instructed the TAI to study the feasibility of gathering money from car firms for this project. However, Mr Patima said the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Automotive Industry Association (TAIA) do not agree with the contribution plan. TAIA president Piengjai Kaewsuwan said the new state-sponsored project would not only benefit car makers but also help auto-parts makers to reduce their costs by eliminating the need to ship products abroad for testing. More importantly, all car makers will soon have their own R&D units. The Japanese makers Nissan and Mitsubishi have built test courses locally that are of the same standard as those at their parent firms. Nissan plans to operate its own R&D unit soon, while Mitsubishi expects to operate one within two years.