Investment PromotionGovernment & regulators

Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI)

Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) is the structural Thai investment-promotion agency under the Office of the Prime Minister. Administers the BOI investment-promotion scheme covering tax holidays, import-duty exemptions, and non-tax privileges across sector tiers. Coordinates with EEC Office on Eastern Economic Corridor priorities. Also runs corporate-renewable, electric-vehicle, semiconductor-OSAT, biotech, and digital-economy targeted programmes. In FY2024 BOI-approved applications reached THB 1.02 trillion, a record, driven by EV, data-centre, and semiconductor investment.

Snapshot

Headline numbers a buyer checks first.

Year established

1966

Founded

Under Investment Promotion Act B.E. 2520 (1977) as revised

FY2024 approved investment

THB 1.02T

FY2024

Record high; +30% YoY

EEC-zone share of approvals

~50%

FY2024

Eastern Economic Corridor anchor

Tax holiday (A1 tier)

8 years

Current scheme

CIT exemption for targeted industries

Provincial offices

5 regional

2025

Plus overseas offices in 16 cities

What BOI actually does

The Board of Investment is Thailand's principal investment-promotion authority, operating under the Investment Promotion Act. Its core function is issuing BOI Promotion Certificates that grant investors a bundle of privileges: corporate income tax exemptions of 3-8 years (A2-A1 tiers), import-duty exemptions on machinery and raw materials, and non-tax benefits including 100% foreign ownership, land-ownership rights, and work-permit facilitation. These privileges are unavailable through any other channel and represent the primary incentive mechanism for greenfield FDI into Thailand.

BOI segments promoted activities into four activity groups (A1 through B2) and two special tiers (S1 for strategic technology, S2 for EEC-priority sectors). The most generous incentives — 8-year CIT exemptions plus a 5-year 50% CIT reduction — apply to A1 and S-tier activities including semiconductors, biotech, advanced electronics, EV manufacturing, and data centres. The EEC (Chachoengsao, Chonburi, Rayong) receives an additional incentive layer that goes beyond the standard activity-group structure.

BOI Investment Promotion Act; BOI activity-group schedule; BOI EEC incentive package

Data as of: 2024-2025

The four levers BOI pulls

Promotion certificates bundle tax and non-tax privileges across four dimensions.

Lever 1 — Tax

CIT exemption: 3 to 8 years

Activity Group A1 gets 8 years of full corporate income tax exemption; A2 gets 5 years; B1/B2 get reduced rates or none. Strategic S-tier adds a further 5-year 50% CIT reduction post-exemption. For a greenfield project with a 10-year horizon, the net present value of the tax benefit can exceed the initial land cost.

Lever 2 — Customs

Import-duty exemption on machinery

BOI-promoted projects receive full exemption from import duties on machinery regardless of activity group. Raw-material exemptions apply to export-oriented projects. For capital-intensive manufacturers (auto, electronics, data centres), this can save 5-30% on initial capex versus a non-promoted investment.

Lever 3 — Ownership

100% foreign ownership, land rights

BOI certificates override the Foreign Business Act restrictions, permitting 100% foreign equity in promoted activities that would otherwise require a Thai majority. Promoted companies can also own land for industrial/commercial use — normally prohibited for foreign entities. These two rights combined are the main reason multinationals prioritise BOI before structuring.

Lever 4 — Labour

Work permits and visa facilitation

BOI's One Stop Service Centre issues work permits and long-term visas (Non-B, Smart Visa) for promoted-company employees. Smart Visa (4-year renewable) is a BOI-administered channel targeting tech professionals, investors, and executives. Processing time via BOI OSS is typically 3-5 business days versus weeks via general Immigration.

BOI Investment Promotion Act; BOI activity-group schedule B.E. 2563 revision

Data as of: 2024-2025

Policy signal

Record FY2024 approvals confirm Thailand's role as the ASEAN manufacturing re-routing destination

$29.6B in FY2024 approved investment — driven by EV, data-centre, and semiconductor inflows — positions Thailand as the primary ASEAN beneficiary of supply-chain diversification. For any analyst modelling Thailand manufacturing FDI, BOI approval statistics are the leading indicator: approvals lead actual capital expenditure by 12-24 months.

BOI FY2024 approval statistics

Data as of: FY2024

BOI activity-group incentive tiers at a glance

Higher-technology and higher-value activities get longer CIT exemptions and additional privileges.

A1 / S1

CIT exemption

8 yrs, 5 yrs 50%

Machinery duty

Exempt

Raw material duty (export)

Exempt

Example activities

Semiconductors, advanced biotech, digital infra

CIT exemption

8 years

Machinery duty

Exempt

Raw material duty (export)

Exempt

Example activities

EV, aerospace MRO, advanced agriculture

CIT exemption

5 years

Machinery duty

Exempt

Raw material duty (export)

Exempt (export)

Example activities

Medical devices, logistics hubs, cold chain

CIT exemption

3 years

Machinery duty

Exempt

Raw material duty (export)

Exempt (export)

Example activities

Light manufacturing, services, tourism infra

B1 / B2

CIT exemption

None

Machinery duty

Exempt

Raw material duty (export)

Exempt (export)

Example activities

Trading, distribution, general services

Activity Group	CIT exemption	Machinery duty	Raw material duty (export)	Example activities
A1 / S1	8 yrs, 5 yrs 50%	Exempt	Exempt	Semiconductors, advanced biotech, digital infra
A2	8 years	Exempt	Exempt	EV, aerospace MRO, advanced agriculture
A3	5 years	Exempt	Exempt (export)	Medical devices, logistics hubs, cold chain
A4	3 years	Exempt	Exempt (export)	Light manufacturing, services, tourism infra
B1 / B2	None	Exempt	Exempt (export)	Trading, distribution, general services

BOI investment-promotion schedule (B.E. 2563 revision); BOI EEC package supplement

Data as of: Current as of 2025

EEC-zone investments in A1-A3 categories receive an additional 50% CIT reduction for 5 years on top of the standard exemption period.

FY2024 record approvals: what drove the THB 1.02T

BOI's FY2024 approved investment of THB 1.02 trillion was a record, driven by three structural flows. First, data-centre and cloud-infrastructure investment from hyperscalers (Google, Microsoft, and regional players) drawn by Thailand's power infrastructure, proximity to submarine cable landings, and the A1-tier 8-year CIT exemption. Second, EV manufacturing investment from Chinese OEMs (BYD, SAIC-MG, Great Wall, Chery) relocating assembly capacity ahead of anticipated tariff changes. Third, semiconductor and electronics supply-chain diversification out of China into Thailand's established hard-disk and electronics cluster in Ayutthaya, Chonburi, and Chachoengsao.

The EEC zone absorbed approximately half of all FY2024 approved investment. The EEC incentive layer — which adds a further 50% CIT reduction for 5 years on top of the standard A-group exemption — is the binding reason multinationals designate EEC sites over other Thai locations. Rayong (auto, EV) and Chonburi (electronics, data centres) are the two highest-density project zones within EEC.

BOI FY2024 annual approval statistics; EEC Office investment data

Data as of: FY2024

Sector-specific incentive programmes in force (2024-2025)

BOI runs targeted packages beyond the standard activity-group schedule.

Electric vehicles

EV manufacturing: A2 tier, import-duty holidays

BOI's EV package grants A2-tier 8-year CIT exemption for EV assemblers committing to local-content targets. Battery and powertrain component manufacturers qualify for A1 in some sub-categories. Over 10 OEMs (BYD, SAIC-MG, Great Wall, Chery, Foxconn-EV, Hozon) have received BOI promotion for Thailand EV assembly as of 2024.

Semiconductors / OSAT

S1 strategic tier for advanced packaging

Semiconductor back-end (OSAT — outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) qualifies for S1-tier incentives: 10-year CIT exemption plus additional grants for R&D spend. Thailand's existing hard-disk and IC-substrate cluster (KCE Electronics, Delta, Western Digital, Seagate) provides the ecosystem base attracting OSAT diversification.

Digital economy

Data centres, cloud: A1 tier since 2022

BOI reclassified data-centre and cloud-infrastructure investment to A1 tier in 2022. Combined with Thailand's land-ownership right for promoted projects and the OSS work-permit channel, this made Thailand the ASEAN-2 destination for hyperscaler Southeast Asia data-centre buildout (after Singapore land moratorium).

Tourism provinces

Tier-2 province bonus: extra 1-year CIT extension

The May 2025 strategic package extended BOI tourism-province incentives to cover Isan regions (Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima) and secondary coastal provinces. Projects in these zones receive one additional year of CIT exemption and enhanced import-duty benefits — intended to redistribute FDI beyond Bangkok and EEC.

BOI sector-specific incentive packages; BOI EV package 2023 revision; BOI May 2025 strategic package

Data as of: 2024-2025

Related Market profiles

Peers, parents, partners, agencies, and other Investment Promotion actors.

Partner

EEC Office (Eastern Economic Corridor)

Coordinates EEC-tier investment incentives with EEC Office.

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Sector peer

BoI Med-Tech Promotion 2024-2027

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BoI Semiconductor / OSAT Packaging Programme

BoI's targeted investment-promotion programme for semiconductor packaging / OSAT capacity in Thailand; tier-A incentives.

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Reports featuring this profile

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LTR Long-Term Resident Visa and Thailand Elite Visa: Foreigner Pathways

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Thailand-Japan Corridor: JTEPA and the FDI-Plus-Manufacturing Flow

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Foreign Business Act Workarounds: Treaty of Amity, BOI, IBC, Preferred Shares

Grants business-by-business foreign-ownership exemption via investment promotion certificates; structural workaround #2.

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IBC International Business Centre: Tax Regime and 100% Foreign Ownership

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Thailand-US Tariff: 19% Reciprocal Tariff and Trade-Policy 2026

Operates export-shock-mitigation incentives for affected Thai exporters.

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Pillar-2 Global Minimum Tax (15%): Multinational Readiness

Reviews tax-holiday compatibility with Pillar-2 for in-scope multinationals.

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Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profiles

Land Ownership for Foreigners: 30-Year Lease, Superficies, Usufruct

Grants land-ownership rights to BOI-promoted companies for industrial/commercial purposes.

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Sits alongside 2 other Atlas profiles

Japanese SME Thai Market-Entry: Full Stack BOI, IBC, JTEPA, Smart Visa

Accepts Japanese as primary application language; Japanese-investor-friendly process.

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Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profiles

Thai Customs Bonded Zone and Free Trade Zone Economics

Stacks investment-promotion with FTZ for combined customs-VAT-CIT savings.

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Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profiles

Thai Alt-Protein and Lab-Grown Meat: FDA Regulatory Pathway

Bio-economy investment-promotion incentives; 8-year tax holidays.

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Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profiles

Thai Corporate Tax: 20% CIT, BOI Holiday, IBC Regime, and the ASEAN Tax-Arbitrage Reality

RTG investment-promotion authority.

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Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profiles

The Karen-State Frontier: Mae Sot, Myawaddy, and the Thai-Myanmar Border Economy

BOI Tak SEZ incentivised industrial cluster anchor.

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Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profiles

Thai Aerospace MRO and U-Tapao Maintenance Cluster

Provides 8-year tax holiday for aerospace-MRO investment.

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Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profiles

ASEAN AEC Corridor: Cross-Border Investment Flow