Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand attracted 153.6 billion THB (about 4.7 billion USD) in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first five months of 2026, a significant increase compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Phunphong Naiyanapakorn, Director-General of the Department of Business Development (DBD) under the Thai Ministry of Commerce, said that during January-May, authorities granted licences to 528 foreign-invested enterprises to operate in Thailand under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999).
Of these, 121 investors entered through applications for foreign business licences, while 407 investors applied for foreign business certificates through investment channels under the laws on investment promotion, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, and rights under treaties or international agreements.
The top five foreign investors in Thailand during the reviewed period were the US, mainland China, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong (China). Investment activities are concentrated in sectors such as engineering, industrial manufacturing, software development, data centres, logistics, electronic components, electric vehicles, and high-tech services.
Compared to the same period in 2025, the number of foreign businesses licensed to invest in Thailand increased by 24%. The licensed projects also created jobs for 3,788 Thai workers. Notably, the majority of foreign investment capital came from projects eligible for incentives from the Board of Investment (BOI). In the first five months of the year, 254 projects fell under this category, accounting for 48% of the total licensed projects and totaling 101.6 billion THB in investment.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, this trend reflects the effectiveness of the government's investment attraction policy, focusing on future industries such as high technology, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles, clean energy, and agricultural and food processing industries./.
