How textiles sell in Thailand
A wholesale market trade and an export manufacturing trade
Thailand carries two textile businesses side by side. One is domestic wholesale, run through the fabric markets of Bangkok and the traders who supply retailers and tailors across the provinces. The other is manufacturing for export, where factories in and around the capital and the surrounding provinces make to a brand's specification for buyers abroad.
The clocks could not be more different
A market buyer decides in a day and pays quickly. An overseas brand takes weeks to agree a costing, then more weeks over counter samples and pre-production approval before a purchase order exists. A single undifferentiated list makes the first look chaotic and the second look dead.