THE BRIEF HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THAILAND’S EXHIBITION INDUSTRY

Historical records of Thailands involvement in exhibition related activities can be traced back to 1862. In 1862 and 1882， Thailand participated in the London and Paris World Expositions（World Expo） respectively. Thailand was one of the only three Asian countries apart from China and Japan to have participated in the 1862 London World Expo. Thailands decision to participate in these World Expos was to build relations with foreign powers and promote Thailands agricultural and handicraft products.

Hence even back then， the Kingdom has a good understanding on using exhibitions to serve diplomatic， political， education and trade promotion objectives. With lessons learned from its participation in the World Expos， a large scale national exhibition was staged in 1882 in Bangkok to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the city of Bangkok and also to showcase the developments of the Kingdom. This was probably the first recorded exhibition held in Thailand.

Nevertheless， like in most South East Asian countries， the commercialization of Thailands exhibition industry only took off in the 1970s. From 1979 onwards， fairs， bazaars and weekend markets were held regularly in outdoor car parks， open vacant area and stadiums. At that time， Thailand has no purpose-built exhibition venue. In fact， Thailands 1st motor show started in an outdoor park in 1979. Today， this motor show is a 60，000 sq meters event， held annually at IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre.

The demand for indoor exhibition venues spurred the construction of Thailands first indoor venue， the Bangkok Convention Hall， which was built in 1982. However， the size of this venue is only 2，500 sq meters. Located on the 5th floor of a shopping mall， the Bangkok Convention Centre Hall was not considered a suitable purposebuilt venue. Despite the many logistic and operational challenges faced by organizers in this venue， the Bangkok Convention Hall was still considered a better alternative to an outdoor area. The shopping mall also converted an underground car park into a 5000 sq meters exhibition hall but this hall was eventually closed down in 1992.

With the opening of the Bangkok Convention Hall， foreign organizers such as the then Miller Freemen， Reed， Montgomery （now called Allword）， etc， began to establish their presence in Thailand throughout the late 1980s to mid 1990s through acquisitions and joint ventures with local Thai organizers. During this period， Singapore was considered as the international exhibition hub for South East Asia， but the changing manufacturing landscape of Singapore， due to higher cost and labour constraints， contributed to the shifting of key manufacturing exhibitions from Singapore to other parts of South East Asia， in particular Thailand. Many of Thailands present day successful international trade exhibitions， were either launched or internationalized during this period.

According to the Thailand Exhibition Association， Thailandsexhibition industry only came of age with the opening of the countrys first purpose built exhibition venue in 1991， the 20，000 sq meters Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. This started the modern era of the Thailands exhibition industry and within a span of 22 years； Thailand now has 6 world class exhibition venues with over 250，000 sq meters of exhibition space.

In 1995， the Thai government organized， possibly the biggest ever exhibition at that time， called the BOI（Board of Investment Fair） taking up over 100，000 sq meters of outdoor space outside the city of Bangkok. Today， the Thai government， especially the Department of International Trade Promotion （DITP）， under the Ministry of Commerce， is an active exhibition player in Thailand， organizing and supporting numerous international trade exhibitions in Thailand， to promote the countrys strategic industries as food， jewellery， textile， furniture， automotive， manufacturing， electronics， etc

Today， exhibitions are considered by the Thai government as an important part of Thailands Meeting， Incentive， and Convention & Exhibition （MICE） industry. In 2004， the government established the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau （TCEB） to help promote Thailand as the key MICE destination for international events. Financial and non-financial supports are offered by TCEB to entice foreign exhibition organizers to organize their exhibitions in Thailand.

According to UFI， the global exhibition trade association based in Paris， Thailands trade exhibition industry grew by 6.9% in 2010 with over 77 international trade exhibition being staged， and taking up over 462，000 sq meters of space. This placed Thailand amongst the top 10 Asian nations with the most numbers of trade exhibitions held. However， this statistic does not reflect the actual size of Thailands exhibition industry because UFI does not takes into account of the many“business to consumer” （B2C） and government organised exhibitions held in Thailand. Although there is no official statistic on the overall exhibition market size， our estimates is that in 2012， there were over 284 exhibitions organized in Thailand， taking up about 4.2 million sq meters of space. While most market analysis tends to disregard the economic contribution of “business to consumer”（B2C） exhibitions， this particular sector is regarded as an important contributor to Thailands exhibition industry， creating jobs and providing economic benefits for the entire exhibition supply chain， ranging from venue， organizers， contractors to related services， etc.

Thailands exhibition industry has come a long way since 1979. From exhibitions held in make-shift open areas， the country boast 6 world class exhibition venues with over 250，000 sq meters of exhibition space， offering organizers with a variety of venue space choices， be it “business to business” or“business to consumer” exhibitions. In addition to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre， modern venues such as the 32，000 sq meters BITEC was built in 1997 followed by the 140，000 sq meters IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre in 1999. IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre is currently the largest venue in the whole of South East Asia. Other recent venue additions in Thailand include the 7，000 sq meters Royal Paragon Hall in 2006 and a brand new convention and exhibition centre in the city of Chiangmai is expected to open this year. There are currently more than 20 local private sector exhibition organizers， not counting the numerous government and trade association organizers.

The rapid globalization and regionalization of worlds trade， coupled by strong economic growth in Asia， will see a rise in the staging of regional and smaller niche trade exhibitions， serving a specific regional market or industry sector. This is especially so in Thailand which is seeing an increase in the numbers of smaller but niche trade exhibitions targeting a specific market or industry sector， such as environmental， building and construction， energy， etc

Looking forward， the future of Thailands exhibition industry looks positive. Strong economic growth， the formation of bilateral， multiliteral， global and regional free trade agreements， coupled by liberalization of the ASEAN markets through the ASEAN Economic Community （AEC 2015）， will positively influence the future growth of Thailands exhibition industry.