Thailand’s export-oriented automotive industry is an economic success story due to the country's port and infrastructure investments, exchange rate depreciation after the Asian financial crisis, and two key government policies.

The economic success of Thailand’s export-oriented automotive industry was based on three factors: public investment in port facilities and related infrastructure, beginning in the 1990s, resulting in the Eastern Seaboard economic corridor; the exchange rate depreciation that followed the 1997–1999 Asian Financial Crisis; and two key policy changes. Restrictions on foreign ownership were abolished in 1997 and local content requirements were dropped in 2000. Neighboring countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, also experienced the crisis and were potential competitors in attracting foreign investment in automotive production for export. But they did not adopt these two key reforms.