Foreign investment in Thailand hits five-year high at THB324bn in 2025

Record five-year performance under Foreign Business Act

Foreign investment in Thailand under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999) reached a five-year high in 2025, totalling 324,148 million baht, Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director-general of the Department of Business Development (DBD) at the Ministry of Commerce and secretary to the Foreign Business Committee, said.

He said the figure was the highest on record for 2021–2025, rising from 82.8 billion baht in 2021, 128 billion baht in 2022, 127 billion baht in 2023, and 228 billion baht in 2024.

“This is good news,” Poonpong said, adding that it reflected foreign investors’ confidence in Thailand’s economic stability and their view of the country as a key regional production base and market.

1,078 foreign business approvals in 2025

Authorities approved 1,078 foreign business investments in 2025 under the act, he said. This comprised 291 applications for a foreign business licence and 787 applications for a foreign business certificate—including investments promoted under the investment promotion law, approvals under the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand law, and projects using rights under treaties or international agreements.

Japan and Singapore lead top investor list

Poonpong said the top five sources of foreign investment by number of approvals were:

Japan — 186 cases (17%), investment of 85,688 million baht, including engineering and technical services (such as automotive parts design and production-process consulting), modern distribution centre services, software development, and contract manufacturing (such as machinery, vehicle parts, electrical appliance parts and metal parts).

Singapore — 167 cases (15%), investment of 103,399 million baht, spanning hotels, data centres and data hosting, EV charging station services, and contract manufacturing (including metal products and formed metal parts, printed circuit boards, plastic parts and machinery parts).

China — 152 cases (14%), investment of 35,046 million baht, including wood processing for activated carbon production, engineering design/procurement/construction/installation and testing for wind-power infrastructure, scientific testing services for electrical and electronic components, and contract manufacturing (such as plastic parts, electronics, formed metal products and parts, and smart electrical appliances).

United States — 148 cases (14%), investment of 5,073 million baht, including retail (electronics, machinery, tools and industrial equipment, dietary supplements and clothing), advertising, software platform design/development/installation and maintenance, and contract manufacturing (including precious-metal jewellery or components, automotive electronic components, DC cables and metal alloys for jewellery production).

Hong Kong — 113 cases (10%), investment of 14,869 million baht, including engineering services for wind-power systems, Type 1 telecommunications services, data centres, and contract manufacturing (such as plastic compounds, electronic components, formed metal parts and machinery equipment).

BOI channel makes up nearly half of approvals

Poonpong said the Board of Investment (BOI) channel accounted for the largest share of foreign investment entries, with 527 cases—49% of all approvals—worth 241,869 million baht.

He said this aligned with the government’s push to attract investment into future industries, including advanced technology, digital and AI, electric vehicles, clean energy and agri-food.

The top three BOI-approved business categories were:

1. Contract manufacturing services, such as metal/plastic products and automotive parts, supporting higher value-added production.
2. Trade and investment support services (TISO), strengthening Thailand’s role as a regional investment and logistics hub.
3. Computer-related services, including software development and data centres, supporting the digital economy and AI services.

EEC draws 313 investors worth THB106.5bn

Poonpong said foreign investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) provinces in 2025 involved 313 investors—29% of all foreign investors in Thailand—up 12 cases (4%) from 2024 (301).
Total EEC investment value was 106,461 million baht, accounting for 33% of total investment value.

By nationality, EEC investors included China (83 cases; 19,263 million baht), Japan (67 cases; 33,840 million baht), Singapore (46 cases; 23,238 million baht), and other countries (117 cases; 30,120 million baht).

He said investments covered engineering services such as automotive parts design, product R&D, platform development for digital services and data centres, and contract manufacturing in areas including electronics, synthetic rubber for industry, metal products and formed metal parts, and vehicle parts.