Thailand exports Muslim clothes, develops "green" clothes

BANGKOK, February 13 (TNA) - Thailand plans to expand exports of Muslim clothes with internationally-recognized standards, while having also developed "green" clothes from recycled plastic bottles. Suthinee Pupaka, Director of Thailand Textile Institute (THTI), told journalists that her institute has launched a project on developing Muslim clothes and other textile products in five southernmost Thai provinces of Songkhla, Yala, Pattani, Satun and Narathiwat, where the majority of locals are Muslims. Suthinee acknowledged that the project is aimed to encourage local community-based enterprises to apply their wisdom to add values to their products through the development of designs, quality and packaging to reach international markets, as part of Thailand's preparations for the Associaton of Southeast Asain Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. According to the THTI director, her institute is also promoting the use of modern technology in the production process by, for instance, using para rubber tree latex in designing and dyeing textiles with natural colours extracted from trees grown in the areas, which also help reduce production costs of imported raw materials. The THTI chief pointed out that market trend for Thailand’s Muslim clothes and textiles remains positive, after their exports in 2013 totaled about 7.59 billion US dollars, a 3.6 per cent year-on-year increase, with the United States, Europe and Japan remaining their major markets and the Middle East being a high purchasing power market. Meanwhile, Tesco Lotus, a hypermarket chain in Thailand, has produced environmentally- friendly clothes from recycled plastic bottles. Tesco Lotus’s Deputy Managing Director for Public Affairs Chakrit Direkwattanachai announced that his hypermarket chain has applied innovative recycling technology to produce the "green" clothes from polyester fibers derived from used plastic bottles. Chakrit noted, similar to other synthetic fabrics, the fabric made from recycled bottles gives a soft and light effect and makes the clothes easy to wear, saying he believes the newly-introduced "green" cloths will encourage more consumers to use more environmentally-friendly products.(TNA)