Coup Forces Postponement of Bangkok Custom-Car Show

The 3rd Bangkok International Auto Salon, scheduled to be held June 19-29, has been postponed indefinitely.

Organizer Inspire Entertainment says in a statement posted on its website that new dates for the largest car-customization exhibition event in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region will be announced later.

The Nation newspaper quotes the company as saying that due to the current situation – the polite reference to last month’s military coup – it was decided to postpone the event to make sure exhibitors, visitors and the media were not affected.

But organizers might have to wait a while if they are planning to delay the show until the political situation returns to normal.

The newspaper quotes coup leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, head of the National Council for Peace and Order, as saying a general election will not be held for at least a year until national reforms are completed.

In a televised public address, Prayuth says an interim government will be formed before the 2015 fiscal year starts in October.

This is part of a 3-step roadmap involving national reconciliation followed by reform and election. A reform council will be set up to carry out all necessary reform tasks, a step Prayuth says will take at least a year, depending on the situation.

Inspire Entertainment had planned to spend up to TB350 million ($10.6 million) to stage the exhibition, with organizing committee chairman Wiluck Lohthong saying previously the aim was to make the event a regional showcase of automotive aftermarket products.

“Our aim is for Thailand to become the regional center for automotive aftermarket and customization products, as well as for automotive exhibitions,” Wiluck said at the time.

About 1 million people visited the second edition of the event last year when 2,000 vehicles and 300 booths were on offer.

Leading tuners and accessory companies from Thailand as well as Japan, China, Taiwan and Malaysia were to have exhibited more than 1,000 items. This included an array of custom cars from Japan, most of them prize-winners from the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Among the automakers booked to exhibit were Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki, Isuzu, Subaru, BMW, Mini, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus.

Meantime, the organizer of the Thailand International Motor Expo sees the coup bringing political stability that will boost vehicle sales.

Inter-Media Consultant Co. President Kwanchai Paphatphong tells the Bangkok Post that with the military bringing the political conflict to an end, and assuming a new government will be formed soon, monthly car sales could rise to almost 100,000 units in the last quarter this year compared with 70,000-80,000 during the first four months.

Last year’s Expo was affected by the political turmoil, with new-car orders diving 52.2% year-on-year to 41,083 units as visitor numbers fell 17% to 1.37 million.

Kwanchai predicts this year’s expo, set for Nov. 29-Dec. 10, will attract 1.5 million visitors and generate orders for 50,000 vehicles worth TB55 billion-TB 60 billion ($1.6 billion-$1.8 billion).

He predicts Thailand’s full-year sales will drop 20%-25% from 1.33 million units in 2013.