Foreign Press Visit Impressed By The Charm Of Thai Furniture

Furniture World Magazine

The Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce led a group of well-known magazine editors from USA, UK, Japan and Vietnam to eyewitness the manufacturing process of the leading furniture manufacturers and exporters of Thailand from 8th-14th September, 2002 under the program "The Furniture Trade Journal Press Visit to Thailand". The goal was to promote Thailand International Furniture Fair and Thai furniture to the world market in an inspiring perspective. Throughout the 7 days of the press visit program, the DEP had instilled the touch of Thai cultures and arts through the visit to some of the most unique cultural tourist sites. Moreover, the press also took a visit to the Thailand Furniture Mart which is the most stylish furniture centre of Thailand. The core of the program highlighted the Factory Tour featuring the manufacturing process of furniture made from rubber wood, metal, particle board and MDF from the leading manufacturers of Thailand such as South East Wood Co.,Ltd., Furtech International Co.,Ltd. and Wanachai Group Public Co.,Ltd. The foreign press also had a chance to visit the water hyacinth furniture showroom from Yothaka In't Co.,Ltd. They also met with other well-known furniture exporters and Thai journalists to exchange their points of view about the furniture industry of Thailand. Ms. Miaki Nagai, the editor of Shitsunai Monthly magazine from Japan said after her visit of factories, "There has been much development in technique and design of Thai furniture factories. In my opinion, it will be very useful for Thailand to create a lot of designed products and I am quite sure that there are still more markets supporting these products." Ms.Staphanie Baum, UK Cabinet Maker's Senior Reporter said that the furniture made from water hyacinth was very interesting. Their uniqueness might be impressive for many UK retailers. Mr. Pakorn Sunthonwechapong, the Managing Director of South East Wood Co., Ltd. said "Rubber wood furniture from Thailand gains more popularity than the same kind of goods from other countries. This is largely because the uniqueness in its streak and natural color sets them apart from their competitors. The color tone is flexibly adjustable by the customers' requirements. Meanwhile, the quality of the wood is highly durable and suits the usage function." The greatest furniture fair of Thailand will feature the remarkable collections from more than 200 leading furniture exporters of Thailand. The Trade days for TIFF 2003 are held during 5th-7th March, 2003 while the public days will be 8th-9th March, 2003 at the BITEC, Bangna-Trad Road, Bangkok.