Positive Developments in Thai LED Market

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)

Disclaimers of Warranties
1. The website does not warrant the following:
1.1 The services from the website meets your requirement;
1.2 The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the service;
1.3 The accuracy, reliability of conclusions drawn from using the service;
1.4 The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness, or security of any information that you download from the website
2. The services provided by the website is intended for your reference only. The website shall be not be responsible for investment decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from use of the website or the information contained therein<
Proprietary Rights
You may not reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, display, perform, publish, distribute, disseminate, broadcast or circulate to any third party, any materials contained on the services without the express prior written consent of the website or its legal owner.

Figure 1. Overall concept of face-fit surface-lighting micro-LEDs (FSLED) mask. a. Optical image of the FSLED mask showing uniform surface-lighting. schematic illustration of the FSLED mask. The 2D to 3D transformation procedure b. Difference ... READ MORE

The next generation of high-performance LEDs is now available: the OSCONIQ® C 3030 from ams OSRAM. Engineered for demanding outdoor and stadium lighting applications, this cutting-edge LED series combines exceptional intensity with thermal... READ MORE