According to the Thai Garment Manufacturers Association, exports of textiles and ready-made garments have been Thailand's number one foreign exchange earners since 1987. In the past decade, Thailand has been the 10th largest supplier of garments to world markets. The industry employed around 850,000 workers in more than 2,000 factories.
Most garment workers are women, and they are among the poorest paid in the industrial sector.
Since 1961, the Thai Government has actively promoted foreign investment mainly by giving tax privileges and providing infrastructure to export industries. The two main reasons for economic crisis in Thailand and other parts of Asia was short term financial speculation and the expansion of TNC's. Over the past three years however, there have been mass retrenchments in the textile and garment industry in Thailand, with many factories closing down. Many garment factories have moved and others are moving to Laos, Vietnam and China. The export revenue earned from the garment and textile industry has decreased each year since the crisis.