For more than two decades, Thai automotive worker Winai Tintanod has witnessed the ups and downs of Thailand’s automobile manufacturing, a sector sustained by the likes of car-making giants like Toyota and Honda. From the manufacturing peak output in 2011, when the country introduced a subsidy for first-time car owners under the “first car” policy, to political instabilities to the crisis during the height of COVID-19, the industry always got back on its feet.

But now, against the current setbacks induced by the slowing economy and transformation into electric, Tintanod is not sure if the Thai automotive sector, the largest in Southeast Asia, will ever bounce back. The plant where he works and others have seen lay-offs, the offer of early retirement packages to older workers, and the reduction of the working hours as orders slowed, according to Tintanod.