Mr. Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of the Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI), has announced that during the first nine months of 2026, the nation has welcomed 1,954 applications for investment promotion, with a total investment value of THB 1,707,430 million.
This represents an increase of 28% compared to the same period last year, reflecting the global trend of investment relocation driven by geopolitical pressures and technological advancement. The main drivers were the digital, electronics, and agriculture and food industries.
Mr. Narit stated, “These figures reflect the momentum of investment flowing into Thailand and the confidence in regulatory and infrastructure improvements, as well as investment facilitation mechanisms such as Thailand FastPass and the government’s Skill Bridge measures for developing the workforce to support future industries.”
The digital industry had the highest requested BOI investment value with over THB 1.17 trillion from 139 projects, nearly doubling from the same period last year. This was followed by the electronics and electrical appliances sector with THB 189,370 million from 262 projects, representing a 7% increase.
Specifically, for businesses related to the AI supply chain, there were 111 applications valued at over THB 1.2 trillion, covering data centers, data hosting, cloud services, chip design, semiconductor manufacturing or testing, electronic components, printed circuit boards, photonics products (such as optical fiber and related modules), electric power systems, AI servers, as well as hard disk drives and components.
The growth of the AI and data center industries is creating demand for supporting equipment and systems—such as servers, storage systems, high-speed data transmission devices, power distribution, and cooling systems—which is attracting equipment manufacturers to invest in Thailand. This also opens opportunities for domestic entrepreneurs to participate in producing parts, installing, and maintaining systems, thereby connecting data center investments with Thailand’s electronics industry base and generating revenues throughout the supply chain.
In the agriculture and food sector, investment applications reached THB 80,190 million from 218 projects, up 59%. These projects span the production of modern food and beverages, animal feed, processed starch, natural extracts, rubber products, and agricultural-based products and packaging.
The energy and infrastructure sector saw the highest number of applications with 313 projects, valued at THB 59,870 million. Investments were concentrated in renewable energy, including solar, wind, biomass, and biogas power generation, as well as essential industrial infrastructure such as industrial estates and industrial water production.
Other notable sectors included logistics and services (THB 51,820 million from 236 projects), automotive and parts (THB 36,340 million from 191 projects), minerals, metals, and materials (THB 28,460 million from 183 projects), chemicals and petrochemicals (THB 22,160 million from 178 projects), and machinery, automation, and robotics (THB 18,880 million from 122 projects).
For foreign direct investment, the first nine months of 2026 saw 1,309 applications worth THB 1,550,784 million, marking a 62% increase. This reflects the entry of large-scale investment projects due to changes in the global supply chain structure and strengthens confidence in Thailand’s potential and readiness.
The top five investor countries were Singapore (THB 1,164,595 million from 214 projects), China (THB 63,390 million from 493 projects), the United Kingdom (THB 48,311 million from 15 projects), Japan (THB 45,478 million from 192 projects), and Taiwan (THB 43,243 million from 70 projects). Most foreign investments focused on digital infrastructure, semiconductors, electronics, and electrical appliances, with significant investments also seen in food and beverages, animal feed, automobiles and parts, precision machinery, metal products, and chemicals.
During this period, 1,951 projects with a total investment of THB 1,512,600 million received BOI approval. These projects are expected to create more than 116,000 additional jobs for Thais, utilize over THB 693,000 million of domestic materials and components annually, and generate export value exceeding THB 1.96 trillion per year. The local sourcing of materials and components provides opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs to engage in production, procurement, and related services.
As for the issuance of promotion certificates, which represent an advanced stage close to actual investment, there were 1,961 projects with a total investment of THB 1,047,710 million, up 10%. This indicates that more than THB 1 trillion in investment is likely to enter the economy in the near future.
