Who drives the automotive sector? Thailand selective policies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the case of selective industrial policies for the automotive industry in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach - Founding on previous literature and official government documents, the authors describe the implemented policies, dividing them into four phases according to the main trend they followed. The authors suggest results the policies have or have not reached by analyzing the current state of the sector. Findings - The main point is that selective policies implemented in the country were successful in helping the development of the sector as a whole, contributing to the role of Thailand as main actor in the international market. However, such policy initiatives were not able to solve some of the main issues of the automotive sector in the country related to local development, such as the technology dependence on foreign (mainly Japanese) firms and the weakness of local suppliers. Originality/value - The authors frame the development of the automotive sector in a twofold perspective: on one hand, the international/exogenous factors and, on the other hand, the role of policy. The authors interpret the effects of selective industrial policy under the lens on both evolution and growth of the sectorper seand on the enhancement of local capabilities. The work shows that the results do not go in the same direction.