Businesses are concerned that foreign investors could flee Thailand to Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia to take advantage of extra privileges in accessing the US market.
Investors are mulling over more privileges if they invest in those Asean members that have signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with the US, which allows goods made in those countries to enter the US market with zero import tariffs, said Vallop Vitanakorn, vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
"The FTI expects to see more businesses move to those three countries due to greater incentives and privileges from the TPP," he said.
Mr Vallop said the industrial sector was expected to move including the electronics, electrical, and garments and textile sectors.
"This would not only cut investment in Thailand but also intensifies competition between Thai goods and those from TPP signatories," he said.
The TPP is a trade agreement signed last Oct 5 by 12 Pacific Rim countries led by the US and including Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Australia and New Zealand.
It includes services to e-commerce, government procurement, labour, regulation of state-owned enterprises and dispute settlement mechanisms.
The other Asian members are Japan and Brunei, and the economies of all TPP signatories account for 40% of global GDP and 26% of world trade.
Thailand's electronics exports rank third in Asean with an annual export value of 1.5 trillion baht, while Singapore is first and Malaysia second, Mr Vallop said.
The FTI is urging the government and businesses to seek new export markets, saying businesses should switch to high-technology products to make them more competitive.
"Vietnam became a production base for smartphones after Samsung moved its factory there," Mr Vallop said.
Thailand should research more cutting-edge industries rather than just pursue original-equipment manufacturing, he added.