This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Foreign investors applied to invest 1.37 trillion baht ($40.6 billion) in Thailand in the first half of 2026, an 80% year-on-year increase as artificial intelligence and data center projects spurred a sharp rise in investment interest. The Thailand Investment Board received 1,299 domestic and foreign applications totaling 1.47 trillion baht in the six months to June 30, with foreign direct investment proposals covering 877 projects. The digital sector accounted for 1.12 trillion baht, accounting for more than three-quarters of total applications, highlighting Thailand’s growing attractiveness as a regional destination for AI and cloud infrastructure. However, investors should note that this figure represents proposed investments and some projects may not ultimately proceed.
Alphabet Inc.’s global technology companies Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) have announced major investments to expand their cloud and AI infrastructure in Thailand. In May, TikTok System (Thailand), a company expanding data infrastructure in the country, received approval from the Board of Investment for an 842 billion baht project targeting data hosting services, servers and storage equipment. The scale of these efforts suggests that rising energy and other costs related to the Middle East wars have not prevented Thailand from attracting significant foreign investment. Board of Investment Director-General Narit Tersteeraskudi said continued growth reflects investors’ confidence in Thailand’s potential to support forward-looking industries and provides an encouraging boost to Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s efforts to strengthen an economy that has been slow-growing compared to Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Investment demand extended to industries other than the digital sector, with electrical and electronic projects accounting for 120.2 billion baht, agriculture and food processing for 61.4 billion baht, logistics and high-value services for 40.2 billion baht, and automotive projects for 25.7 billion baht. Narit said the approved projects are expected to create more than 82,000 jobs, generate exports of more than 1.24 trillion baht annually and consume about 386 billion baht of domestic raw materials each year. For investors, these forecasts suggest Thailand’s investment surge could extend beyond data centers, supporting the country’s broader push into jobs, exports, domestic suppliers and high-value industries.
