Thailand plays catch-up after a slow start in region’s chip race

SEMICONDUCTORS are the shiniest toys in the playpen of the ongoing United States-China tech stand-off. But while the likes of Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and – to some extent – the Philippines are already pulling ahead, Thailand is well off the pace.

Historically, the kingdom’s role in the semiconductor industry has been limited to assembling and testing.

These are among the final steps in the semiconductor manufacturing process that are typically outsourced to low-cost locations such as Asean countries, said Oxford Economics’ lead economist Sunny Liu in a recent research note.