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The most critical challenges faced by Thailand in response to globalisation and the social, economic and technological changes of recent decades are low competitiveness and the poor quality of the labour force. In this paper the author discusses the development of the national Thai vocational qualifications (TVQs), with the emphasis on competencies, recognition of prior learning and encouraging workers to attain no less than a lower secondary education. The paper then looks at guidelines that have been adopted as a means of raising the efficiency of the labour force through the development of an effective vocational education system capable of meeting both local labour demands and international standards. A pilot project is underway in which vocational qualifications were set in five areas of industry: electricity, electronics, automobile mechanics and spare parts, the food industry and the garment industry, with 16 companies participating. Procedures are being developed for the evaluation stage of the project.