BANGKOK (NNT) – Since the COVID-19 outbreak many private companies have opened their face mask factories, delivering surgical masks to medical professionals. By the end of this month, 28 factories will be producing a maximum of 4.2 million surgical masks each day.
The Department of Internal Trade’s (DIT) Director General Wichai Phochanakit, announced today that six new surgical mask factories have been opened, in addition to the 11 factories operating since before the COVID-19 outbreak, meaning the number of factories producing surgical masks in Thailand now totals 17 factories, with a combined production output at 3.5 million items per day.
Currently, 12 more factories are in the process of opening. These new factories have received investment promotion packages from the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI), and will help increase the production output rate of surgical masks by another 700,000 pieces each day.
It is expected that by the end of July, there will be 28 surgical mask factories operating in Thailand, with a total production output of 4.2 million masks per day, which would be enough to meet the present demand by the general public.
According to the DIT chief, the general public has now changed to using more of reusable cloth face masks, which helps reduce the demand for single-use surgical masks needed by medical professionals.
Hospitals in Thailand now have a 2-month supply of surgical masks in stock, with a factory recently opened by the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) now supplying surgical masks free of charge to hospitals.
Meanwhile, the export of surgical masks produced in Thailand will continue to be restricted for another six months, or until 3rd February 2021, according to the latest announcement from the Central Commission on Prices of Goods and Services published on the Royal Gazette. Exporters can still however make an export request, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
