Even though the Thailand government is not too keen on issuing more incentives to support the local LED industry, there is still plenty positive market developments that manufacturers can be optimistic about.

LED market outlook remains bright despite of the economic recession that hit the country last year caused by the military coup in May 2014, that resulted in unstable political situation, and reevaluations of former government policies.

Lower LED product prices have raised Thai consumers LED purchases by 50% this year, said Soonchai Kumnoonsate, Governor of Electricity Generating Authority Thailand (EGAT) at LED Expo Thailand 2015 on Tuesday. The show runs from May 21-24 at IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center.

Soonchai Kumnoonsate, Governor of Electricity Generating Authority Thailand (EGAT). (LEDinside)

There is potentially an estimated 70 million tube lights in the Thailand general lighting market that need to be retrofitted with LEDs, said Kumnoonsate.

In addition, streetlight projects that were previously terminated because of technical complications involved in replacing existing streetlights with LEDs, and government accounting technicality issues have been reinitiated, said Minister of Energy Dr. Narongchai Akrasanee in a separate interview.

For niche market applications, the Thai automotive lighting market is also a promising industry as the country is a major automotive manufacturer for major car brands including Toyota, BMW and Mercedes Benz, added Akrasansee.

Minister of Energy Dr. Narongchai Akrasanee. (LEDinside)

The country manufactures over 2 million cars per year, presenting huge market potentials for automotive lighting manufacturers in the original equipment (OE) sector as well as the aftermarket.

LED applications in the Thai LED market have continued to expand, he said.

Moreover, the Thailand government is concerned with LED product quality and adopting more stringent measures with LED standards that fall under Energy Label No. 5. This might put an end to poor quality products flooding the market.

Akrasanee and Kumnoonsate both stressed the importance of the Label No. 5, which is an energy efficiency standard equivalent to the U.S. ENERGY STAR label.

EGAT, which is responsible for the Energy Label No. 5 verification process, is mostly working with university labs to test and certify products, said Kumnoonsate.

On a positive note for LED manufacturers, no new standards or updates will be added to the existing Energy Label No. 5 standards, they said.

(Author: Judy Lin, Chief Editor, LEDinside)