From car parts to condos, faltering Thailand lures Chinese money

Rayong, Thailand

EVERYWHERE you look on Thailand's Amata industrial estate in Rayong, you see signs in Chinese. It's a similar story just along the coast in the tourist resort of Pattaya, where Mandarin is increasingly visible alongside English and Russian.

As China's economy slows, its investors are looking abroad for growth and Thailand, home to one of the world's largest ethnic Chinese minorities and a gateway to South-east Asia's 600 million consumers, is a hot investment destination in everything from industry to condominiums.

"Thailand is usually the first stop for Chinese tourists and investors," said Xu Gen Luo, who runs the Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone, about 200 km south-east of Bangkok. Dozens of new Chinese-owned solar, rubber and industrial manufacturing plants have opened in the zone since 2012. "Th…