有赖于住宅及酒店市场的积极拓展，2011年泰国的电梯和自动扶梯市场预计将增长20％，通力泰国电梯有限公司董事Marc Spiegel说。

　　泰国政府在包括公共运输系统等基建项目的投资带给电梯行业巨大的发展机遇。

　　“2011年所有拟在建的基建项目将使市场的增长率达到20％，” Spiegel说。

　　2010年的电梯和自动扶梯市场经历了缓慢的增长，比前一年相比约为10％，主要是由于受第二季度政治动荡的影响，许多发展项目延期建设。

　　Spiegel指出，在暴力事件后，泰国国内及外国消费者和商界人士已重拾信心，建筑产业很快恢复建设。自从1997年亚洲金融危机爆发以来被拆除的老建筑遗迹上，被搁置的项目已开始破土动工。

　　东盟自由贸易区为促进区域内的联系兴建基础设施带来需求增长，也为电梯行业创造了更多机会。

　　然而，政治的不确定性依然存在，更为现实的2011年经济增长估计为10-15％。

　　另外，一个有中国引导的亚洲巨大电梯和自动扶梯需求转变正伴随着欧洲和美国由于经济衰退导致目前的停滞市场悄然发生。

　　Spiegel说，与美国相比，泰国目前拥有25％以上的商业潜力，在市场规模，增长和商业机会方面，泰国与马来西亚和新加坡存在许多相似之处。

　　同时电梯行业也面临挑战，其中之一就是泰国的建筑依然缺乏对电梯维修合同的统一规定。

　　“在泰国和大多数国家中，存在许多小[电梯]公司及未获得正规授权或培训的公司，所以我们已经见证了许多电梯意外事故的发生，”他说。 “政府应该颁布法规以保护人们在使用飞机或机动车辆等设备时的安全。”

注：此文为译文，内容以原文为准　来源：bangkokpost.com

Lift market eyes 20% growth in 2011

Thailand's elevator and escalator market next year is banking on aggressive expansion of the residential and hotel market with expected growth of up to 20%, says Marc Spiegel,
managing director of Kone Thai Lift Plc.

There is also tremendous opportunity from the government's investment in infrastructure projects including the expansion of the mass transit system.

"Market growth could reach 20% if all the infrastructure projects are actually launched next year," Mr Spiegel said.

The elevator and escalator market in 2010 experienced slower growth of about 10% compared to the previous year, mainly due to the impact of political unrest in the second quarter, which delayed many development projects.

Mr Spiegel said both Thai and foreign consumers and businesspeople had regained their confidence after the violent events, with the construction industry moving quickly to make up lost ground. Projects that were put on hold have broken ground while a number of developments are to be built on the sites where old buildings from the 1997 Asian crisis have been taken down.

The Asean Free Trade Area also offers an opportunity with more demand for infrastructure to facilitate connections within the region.

However, as political uncertainty still lingers, a more realistic growth projection for 2011 is 10-15%.

Also, there is a huge shift of demand for elevators and escalators to Asia led by China, as Europe and the United States markets are now stagnant due to the recession.

Mr Spiegel said Thailand currently has 25% greater business potential when compared to the overall US economy. The Thai market is similar to Malaysia and Singapore in terms of market size, growth and business opportunity.

Among the challenges for the industry is buildings in Thailand still lack maintenance contract regulations on elevators.

"In Thailand and in most countries, there are many small [elevator] companies or cowboy companies that are not properly licensed or trained, so we've seen a number of accidents," he said. "There should be regulations in place protecting people using the equipment such as with airplanes or motor vehicles."