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Thai king’s death serves as a boon to garment exporters of Cambodia

The death of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 13, 2016 is turning out to be a financial boon for Cambodia’s garment sector. In the wake of the Monarch’s death, the Thai government announced a one year-long mourning period for officials and a 30-day mourning period for the public. In this period all citizens have been asked to wear the traditional Thai mourning colours of either black or white.

Newspapers, websites, and television broadcast have all also removed colour from their productions while any form of entertainment or festive behaviour has been strongly discouraged. As a matter of fact, last Saturday more than 200,000 people gathered in Bangkok’s Sanam Luang to add their voices to a new recording of the Royal Anthem in tribute to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, almost all wearing black attire.

The death of the long-reigning King caught the garment industry by surprise. Black is not a popular colour in Thailand except for semi- or formal events. Thais, by tradition, prefer more brightly coloured and stylish clothing. With 66 million people suddenly looking for all types of clothing in black, traditional supply chains have been stretched to the limits, while privateers in the country have been far from shy at jacking up prices in the face of overwhelming demand.

At the same time, the local Thailand media have reported numerous incidents of vigilantism, with ultra-royalists verbally assaulting and publicly humiliating people not dressed in black. Many of those affected by the ultra-royalist assaults have reportedly said that they simply could not afford to buy new clothing. To assist them, good Samaritans across the country have set up locations across the country where people can take their existing clothes and have them dyed black for free.

At this juncture, the Thai scene is serving as a boon to Cambodia’s garment sector. Factories with extra capacity have switched to making black clothing for export to Thailand as the country’s demand for black attire shows no sign of coming down.

 
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