This article utilizes various international commodity classification systems and trade pattern indices to analyse the trends and changes in Thailand–India trade relations over the past few decades. The trade between the two countries has grown significantly, characterized by two-way trade and a high proportion of manufacturing goods, particularly in Thailand’s exports to India. Intra-industry trade primarily occurred in a horizontal dimension, emphasizing the functional attributes of the products. There was an improvement in the intra-industry trade and domestic value-added exports between Thailand and India, indicating that the two countries have partly utilized their economic scale and product diversification. Thailand has a comparative advantage in various products at different technological levels, while India’s export comparative advantage is primarily in primary and low-technology goods. However, trade activities between the two countries fluctuated and significantly lagged behind those of their top trading partners, mainly due to slow progress in negotiating a comprehensive free trade deal. The share of high-technology and skill-intensive exports remains modest in their trade. Nevertheless, the trade potential between Thailand and India is significant, as their trade structure is relatively complementary. Much more efforts from Thailand and India are required to realize this potential in the future.
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