Thailand vs China, part II

I'll admit, I'm biased. I would much rather live in Thailand than just about anywhere else on the planet. And news today of Thailand's world #47 ranking in medical technology. And Thailand costs (better than Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and China) supports my desire. Article here.The only concern I have is if an ambulance was needed, could it get through the traffic?!On a more serious note, I've had three different companies come to me in the last two months asking for help with manufacturing "anywhere but China." Their words, not mine. Two of the clients are in the toy industry and another in home decor.Their reasoning? First, the lead paint scares last year are not yet forgotten in the Toy industry. This means that regardless of the quality available, high end Toys can't have the "made in China" label. Second, the costs of labor in China are rising so rapidly that re-orders are priced to high to keep up with a hot selling toy. Third, marking, marketing, marketing. Fair or not, there are enough consumer groups targeting "made in China" that it's too sensitive to risk right now--particularly if children's items are involved.I moved the majority of production that we do from Thailand to China in 2003 because China had both better prices better/more options. Particularly in Guangdong province. Since then, I've seen the prices rise and many factory options (and laborers) move to other provinces within China and many back to SEA (mostly to Cambodia and Vietnam). What is interesting to me is that China is still the source for much of the raw materials that are used in SEA factories. And, unless labor is the major cost contributor to a project the Pearl River Delta still has many advantages over Western China and SEA.So, for the present and foreseeable future, I'm still going to be living in Shenzhen and working, mostly, in China. But for vacations and plastic surgery I'm definitely going to Thailand!