Thailand becomes ASEAN’s top PCB manufacturing base, eyes global top five
BOI data shows Thailand has drawn over 200 billion baht in PCB investments since 2022, backed by strong infrastructure and an expanding supply chain.
- Thailand has become the number one manufacturing base for printed circuit boards (PCBs) in ASEAN, driven by over THB200 billion in investment applications since 2022.
- This growth is fueled by global demand for AI, data centers, and advanced electronics, as well as foreign investors relocating production.
- The country's key strengths include advanced infrastructure, a skilled workforce, an integrated supply chain, and significant government incentives like tax exemptions for up to 13 years.
- Leveraging these advantages, Thailand has set a long-term goal to become one of the world's top five PCB manufacturing centers.
The printed circuit board (PCB) industry is becoming a major magnet for large-scale investment flows into Thailand, amid the global expansion of AI, data centres and advanced electronics.
This has helped Thailand move up to become ASEAN’s number one PCB manufacturing base, with a longer-term goal of rising into the world’s top five.
Data from the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) shows that between 2022 and June 2025, more than 180 PCB investment projects applied for investment promotion, with a combined value of more than THB200 billion. This reflects ongoing production relocation and foreign investor confidence in Thailand as a strategic base in the region.
In the first nine months of 2025, the electrical appliances and electronics group, which covers PCBs, hard disk drives, electronic parts, battery cells and smart appliances, recorded 382 applications for investment promotion, with a combined value of more than THB180 billion.
This highlights ecosystem-wide growth across the industrial value chain, from upstream to downstream.
Thailand’s key strengths include infrastructure that is ready for advanced manufacturing, including a stable and sufficient power supply, logistics networks connecting ports, airports and major regional transport routes, and a skilled workforce that can adapt quickly to new technologies, enabling efficient production of increasingly complex PCBs.
Thailand also benefits from an integrated supply chain that links to fast-growing downstream industries such as electric vehicles, electronics, semiconductors, AI data centres and medical devices.
These are strategic target industries supported by the BOI through measures including corporate income tax exemptions of up to 13 years, alongside investment cost-reduction measures.
In terms of investment locations, 304 Industrial Park is one of the key clusters supporting the PCB industry.
Its utilities are designed to meet the needs of factories requiring consistently high electricity and water usage.
The project currently has more than 10 on-site power plants, with a total capacity of 893 megawatts, supporting long-term energy stability.
It also has an industrial water capacity of 344,000 cubic metres per day, supported by reservoirs with a combined capacity of more than 40 million cubic metres, helping build confidence among operators that require uninterrupted production processes.
At present, more than 14 PCB manufacturers and supply-chain companies have already invested there.
With a total area of more than 3,200 hectares, the site also provides room for expansion by major producers and raw-material suppliers.
It is supported by a standard industrial wastewater treatment system with a capacity of up to 175,800 cubic metres per day, aligning with increasingly stringent environmental requirements across global supply chains.
Another key advantage is integrated renewable energy from solar and biomass, totalling more than 555 megawatts.
This supports corporate carbon-neutrality targets and meets foreign investors’ growing focus on ESG and sustainability.
Strategically, Thailand benefits from its location and free-trade linkages to key markets in Europe, China and ASEAN, enabling flexible distribution into major markets amid a broader restructuring of global supply chains aimed at reducing reliance on a single production base.
Overall, this reflects that Thailand is not only a cost-competitive manufacturing base, but is moving towards becoming a regional hub for advanced technology industries.
The inflow of more than THB200 billion into the PCB industry is therefore not just a headline figure, but a structural signal reinforcing Thailand’s potential on the global investment stage.
If Thailand can maintain continuity in investment promotion policy, develop high-skilled labour, and upgrade infrastructure alongside environmental standards, it has the potential to move from an ASEAN hub to one of the world’s PCB manufacturing centres sustainably over the next decade.
