The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) has approved investment applications worth a total of 28.6 billion Thai baht (about US$ 870 million) in digital infrastructure and travel sector projects cover the first quarter of the year. Moreover, it also announced new incentives that will boost local content in the manufacture of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids, as well as electrical appliances (E&E).

In recent years, Thailand has attracted large amounts of investments in data centers and digital services, from companies as diverse as Amazon Web Services, Tik Tok, and NTT Data. Particularly, 2024 was a special year when digital services made history as it ranked as the top investment sector for the first time.

Digital Services Making Headway

The trend remains thus far in the first quarter of 2025, which saw a fivefold jump in digital sector applications from the year earlier period.

The largest project approved today is Stratus Technology Co., Ltd.’s plan to invest 23.7 billion baht. Specifically, it will build a Tier 3 data center with a load capacity of approximately 203MW. The project will be located at the CPGC Industrial Estate, in Rayong Province. Stratus Technology is an affiliate of China’s ZDATA Technologies Co., Ltd.

“The momentum of the demand for digital services should ensure that the data center investments remain a highlight in term of the value of applications this year,” Mr. Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of the BOI after the board meeting. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Pichai Chunhavajira, chaired the board meeting of the Thai BOI.

In 2024, Thailand’s total applications for investment promotion soared 35% in value to a 10-year high of 1.14 trillion Thai baht (about US$33 billion), the highest since 2014.

The digital sector, which includes data centers and cloud services, topped last year for the first time the sectorial rankings in terms of value with 150 projects worth a combined 243.3 billion baht in pledged investment. Moreover, major projects in this sector in 2024 included applications to setup large data centers by units of large tech and cloud services companies. Among them are Google (Alphabet) from the U.S., Australia’s NextDC, India’s CtrlS Datacenters, and Singapore-based GDS IDC Services PTE Ltd.

More Incentives for EVs, E&E

The Thai BOI also approved more incentives to increase the use of local content in the manufacturing of battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), as well as electrical appliances. Specifically, the government offered additional 2-year 50% corporate income tax reduction (CIT) to companies meeting the criteria and conditions.

To qualify for the tax benefits, the manufacturers of EV and related electric vehicle components must use locally made parts with a combined value of not less than 40% of the total value of raw materials for BEV, and not less than 45% for PHEV.

For the E&E sector, companies must fall under the smart electrical appliance and electric appliance manufacturing categories and must use locally made parts with a combined value of not less than 40% of the total value of raw materials.

Qualified applicants can be either existing BOI promoted projects whose original CIT exemption privileges have not expired, or new investment projects. The manufacturers must also be certified “Made in Thailand” (MiT) by the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) to qualify.

In 2024, the electronics and electrical appliances (E&E) sector, which had attracted the largest share of investment in recent years, came in second last year with 407 projects worth 231.7 billion baht. Noticeable large projects in this sector last year included an investment by a unit of Foxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc. (Fiti Group) to build a factory. Accordingly, the factory will make high-precision machinery parts and equipment for the semiconductor industry.

30 June 2025