Textile & Garment ManufacturingSilver report

Published May 2026Insight Research19 min read2026 Edition15 sources, 15 primary-gradeVery high source depth

Thailand Textile & Garment Manufacturing Market Intelligence

Thai textile and garment manufacturing ~THB 200-250B domestic output; HS 50-63 exports USD 6-7B. Indorama Ventures (IVL), Saha-Union (SUN), Thai Rayon (TR) listed; 2,000 SME OEM suppliers for Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo, H&M.

Key takeaways

1
Thai textile and garment manufacturing sector generates approximately in domestic output with HS 50-63 exports of (FY2024). Over 2,000 firms employ 400,000 workers, female, across fibre, weaving, dyeing, and cut-make-trim garment stages.
2
Indorama Ventures (SET: IVL) is globally dominant in PET fibre and feedstock ( consolidated revenue FY2025). Saha-Union (SET: SUN), Thai Rayon (SET: TR, Aditya Birla), Erawan Textile, and Thanulux (SET: THANX) anchor the listed mid-stream and garment segments.
3
Thailand is a Tier 1 OEM supplier for Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo, H&M, and Zara. Bangkok and eastern Thailand concentrate factories; Laem Chabang port provides 7-10 day transit to Europe. RCEP tariff benefits support ASEAN regional fabric trade with Vietnam and Cambodia.
4
Structural tension: fast fashion volume growth vs EU CSDDD due diligence mandates, ILO decent work standards, and buyer sustainability requirements. /day minimum wage (Bangkok, effective July 2025) compresses margins vs Vietnam (/day) and Bangladesh (/day).
5
Our read: Thai textiles are mid-cost, mid-quality, squeezed between low-wage competitors and automation-led nearshoring. The winners are firms that move up the value chain into technical textiles, sustainable certification, and direct-to-brand partnerships rather than competing on labour cost alone.

Executive summary

Thailand's textile and garment manufacturing sector generated approximately in domestic output during FY2024 (OIE, FTI Textile Club estimates), with HS 50-63 exports totalling (Thai Customs, UN Comtrade). The sector spans a complete value chain from fibre and yarn production (PET staple fibre, viscose rayon, cotton spinning) through weaving and knitting, dyeing and finishing, to cut-make-trim garment assembly for global brand OEM contracts.^{[, , ]}

The operator landscape is bifurcated. On the upstream and integrated side, Indorama Ventures (SET: IVL) is a global PET fibre and feedstock leader headquartered in Bangkok with consolidated revenue. Saha-Union (SET: SUN) is a diversified conglomerate with textile, rubber, and plastics operations. Thai Rayon (SET: TR), an Aditya Birla subsidiary, produces viscose rayon staple fibre. On the garment side, Thanulux (SET: THANX) and Erawan Textile (Saha Pattana Group) are mid-tier listed and private manufacturers serving sportswear, workwear, and fashion brands.^{[, , , ]}

Thailand occupies a mid-cost, mid-quality position in global garment sourcing. OEM factories in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Chonburi supply Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo, H&M, and Zara. Competitive pressure from Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Cambodia is structural: Vietnam benefits from the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA); Bangladesh from duty-free EBA access; Cambodia from lower wages. Thai differentiation rests on quality, compliance readiness, proximity to Japanese buyers, and RCEP-facilitated fabric trade within ASEAN.^{[, , ]}

FTI Textile Club, Thai Customs, OIE, SET factsheets, ILO Asia Garment Hub

Data as of: FY2024

Thai textile sector domestic output trend (THB billion, 2020-2024)

2020

Output (THB B)

185

Context

COVID demand collapse; factory closures

2021

Output (THB B)

195

Context

Gradual export recovery, PPE demand spike

2022

Output (THB B)

210

Context

Post-COVID brand restocking cycle

2023

Output (THB B)

220

Context

Softening global demand; inventory correction

2024

Output (THB B)

235

Context

Modest recovery; RCEP fabric trade grows

Year	Output (THB B)	Context
2020	185	COVID demand collapse; factory closures
2021	195	Gradual export recovery, PPE demand spike
2022	210	Post-COVID brand restocking cycle
2023	220	Softening global demand; inventory correction
2024	235	Modest recovery; RCEP fabric trade grows

OIE MPI, FTI Textile Club, Insight estimates

Data as of: 2024 full-year

Export and end-market mix (% of FY2024 output value)

OEM garment export (global brands)

Share %

45%

Notes

Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo, H&M, Zara via Thai factories

Fibre, yarn, fabric export

Share %

25%

Notes

PET fibre (IVL), rayon (TR), woven fabric to ASEAN

Domestic retail, fashion

Share %

15%

Notes

Thai brands, department store, e-commerce

Technical textiles, industrial

Share %

10%

Notes

Automotive, filtration, medical nonwoven

Home textiles, other

Share %

Notes

Bedding, upholstery, niche export

Segment	Share %	Notes
OEM garment export (global brands)	45%	Nike, Adidas, Uniqlo, H&M, Zara via Thai factories
Fibre, yarn, fabric export	25%	PET fibre (IVL), rayon (TR), woven fabric to ASEAN
Domestic retail, fashion	15%	Thai brands, department store, e-commerce
Technical textiles, industrial	10%	Automotive, filtration, medical nonwoven
Home textiles, other	5%	Bedding, upholstery, niche export

Thai Customs HS 50-63, FTI Textile Club, UN Comtrade

Data as of: FY2024

Analyst framing

Why this report

Thai textiles are a bellwether for the global fast-fashion-to-sustainable-fashion transition. The sector is structurally squeezed between low-wage ASEAN competitors and EU regulatory mandates on supply-chain due diligence. Indorama Ventures is the global-scale listed anchor; mid-tier garment OEMs face margin compression from $11.6/day wages and buyer consolidation. This report maps the value chain, operator economics, compliance landscape, and scenarios for investors, sourcing executives, and policymakers.

Operator playbooks

Indorama Ventures (SET: IVL): global PET fibre and feedstock leader headquartered in Bangkok. THB 467B consolidated revenue (FY2025 TTM). IVL operates across 33 countries with integrated polyester, PET resin, fibre, and recycling operations. Thailand is headquarters and a major production base, but the majority of revenue is international. Strategic significance: IVL sets the global feedstock price for polyester fibre that downstream Thai weavers and garment makers consume.

Saha-Union Group (SET: SUN): diversified conglomerate with textile, rubber, plastics, computing, energy, and hospitality divisions. The textile arm produces woven fabric, garments, and industrial textiles. Revenue is modest vs IVL but SUN is strategically relevant as a mid-market integrated manufacturer with decades of OEM relationships. Strategic: conglomerate stability, diversified revenue buffer against textile-cycle volatility.

Thai Rayon (SET: TR): subsidiary of India's Aditya Birla Group. Thailand's sole viscose rayon staple fibre (VSF) producer, supplying downstream spinners and weavers. VSF is a wood-pulp-derived fibre positioned between cotton and polyester in cost and sustainability profile. Strategic: monopoly supplier of VSF in Thailand; upstream pricing power when cotton prices spike.

Erawan Textile: leading woven fabric manufacturer with 88,000 spindles and 300 air-jet looms. Subsidiary of Saha Pattana Group (Thailand's largest consumer-products conglomerate). Produces shirting, suiting, and workwear fabrics for domestic and export markets. Strategic: scale woven-fabric specialist, potential M&A target for vertical integration plays.

Thanulux (SET: THANX): listed garment manufacturer specialising in OEM production for global sportswear and fashion brands. Operates cut-make-trim facilities in central Thailand. Strategic: pure-play garment OEM listed on SET; proxy for Thai garment export competitiveness.

Value-chain economics and OEM dynamics

Thai textile value chain runs from upstream fibre (IVL polyester, TR viscose, imported cotton) through spinning, weaving/knitting, dyeing/finishing, to cut-make-trim (CMT) garment assembly. Margins compress moving downstream: fibre producers capture 15-20% gross margin on commodity cycles; fabric weavers 10-15%; CMT garment assemblers 5-8%. The OEM model means Thai factories produce to buyer specifications with limited brand equity or pricing power.

Global brand sourcing operates on multi-country strategies. Nike maintains 15-20 Thai supplier facilities (Nike Manufacturing Map); Adidas lists 20-30 Thailand factories. These are not exclusive: the same brands source from Vietnam (40-50% of Nike volume), China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Thai factories compete on compliance readiness, quality consistency, and turnaround speed rather than lowest unit cost.

RCEP has accelerated intra-ASEAN fabric trade. Thai weavers export greige and finished fabric to Vietnam and Cambodia for garment assembly, creating a regional supply chain where Thailand captures higher value-added stages. This partially offsets the competitive threat from lower-wage ASEAN neighbours — Thailand becomes the fabric supplier to competitors' garment factories.

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