Thailand’s promoted projects record 28% rise in actual investment

Actual investment in projects promoted by Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) rose to ฿260.7 billion in the third quarter of 2026, a 28% increase from a year earlier, according to the agency. Investment for the first nine months reached ฿796.5 billion, up 27%.

BoI secretary-general Narit Therdsteerasukdi said the government was giving priority to tracking spending after project approval to better assess implementation and economic activity. The agency has strengthened quarterly monitoring and is coordinating work to address obstacles to projects.

Digital projects attracted ฿64.2 billion in actual investment during the quarter, more than seven times the year-earlier figure. Electronics and electrical appliances followed with ฿61.2 billion, an increase of 20%. Narit said the two sectors together represented nearly half of quarterly investment.

Other sectors included agriculture and food processing with ฿27.1 billion, energy and utilities with ฿24 billion, and automotive and parts with ฿18.2 billion. Minerals, metals and materials accounted for ฿15.2 billion, while tourism recorded ฿11.2 billion.

Spending on machinery increased 37% to ฿136.5 billion, while construction spending rose 39% to ฿96.3 billion. Together, those categories made up 89% of actual investment. Land and other items accounted for ฿27.9 billion.

Narit said rising construction and machinery expenditure showed that many large projects had progressed from planning to implementation. He expected actual investment for 2026 to exceed ฿1 trillion, compared with ฿865 billion in 2025.