Reference
·Primary source
Thai SME Cobot Payback Period (Capex Purchase vs CaaS)
14-22 months capex, 9-16 months CaaS
Federation of Thai Industries June 2025 survey of 1,420 SME manufacturers calculates median cobot payback periods at 14 to 22 months for outright capex purchase with the BOI Section 8 50 percent capex tax credit applied, and 9 to 16 months for Cobot-as-a-Service subscription. Payback is calculated against substituted labour cost using the Thai minimum wage of THB 363 per day plus the embedded overtime, severance and recruitment cost stack of about 1.6x. Electronics assembly and food and beverage co-pack lines show the fastest payback (9 to 12 months on CaaS, 14 to 16 months on capex) due to two-shift utilisation; metals and machining and packaging lag (13 to 16 months on CaaS, 18 to 22 months on capex). The FTPI matched-funding pilot and the Department of Skill Development reskill subsidy further compress payback by 1.5 to 3 months on qualifying projects.
Figure in context
Federation of Thai Industries June 2025 survey of 1,420 SME manufacturers calculates median cobot payback periods at 14 to 22 months for outright capex purchase with the BOI Section 8 50 percent capex tax credit applied, and 9 to 16 months for Cobot-as-a-Service subscription. Payback is calculated against substituted labour cost using the Thai minimum wage of THB 363 per day plus the embedded overtime, severance and recruitment cost stack of about 1.6x. Electronics assembly and food and beverage co-pack lines show the fastest payback (9 to 12 months on CaaS, 14 to 16 months on capex) due to two-shift utilisation; metals and machining and packaging lag (13 to 16 months on CaaS, 18 to 22 months on capex). The FTPI matched-funding pilot and the Department of Skill Development reskill subsidy further compress payback by 1.5 to 3 months on qualifying projects.
Federation of Thai Industries June 2025 survey of 1,420 SME manufacturers calculates median cobot payback periods at 14 to 22 months for outright capex purchase with the BOI Section 8 50 percent capex tax credit applied, and 9 to 16 months for Cobot-as-a-Service subscription. Payback is calculated against substituted labour cost using the Thai minimum wage of THB 363 per day plus the embedded overtime, severance and recruitment cost stack of about 1.6x. Electronics assembly and food and beverage co-pack lines show the fastest payback (9 to 12 months on CaaS, 14 to 16 months on capex) due to two-shift utilisation; metals and machining and packaging lag (13 to 16 months on CaaS, 18 to 22 months on capex). The FTPI matched-funding pilot and the Department of Skill Development reskill subsidy further compress payback by 1.5 to 3 months on qualifying projects.
Time scope
FY2025-FY2027 payback economics
Source basis
Primary source
Interpretation notes
What this tells you
Federation of Thai Industries June 2025 survey of 1,420 SME manufacturers calculates median cobot payback periods at 14 to 22 months for outright capex purchase with the BOI Section 8 50 percent capex tax credit applied, and 9 to 16 months for Cobot-as-a-Service subscription. Payback is calculated against substituted labour cost using the Thai minimum wage of THB 363 per day plus the embedded overtime, severance and recruitment cost stack of about 1.6x. Electronics assembly and food and beverage co-pack lines show the fastest payback (9 to 12 months on CaaS, 14 to 16 months on capex) due to two-shift utilisation; metals and machining and packaging lag (13 to 16 months on CaaS, 18 to 22 months on capex). The FTPI matched-funding pilot and the Department of Skill Development reskill subsidy further compress payback by 1.5 to 3 months on qualifying projects.
What not to do with it
Use the linked report for interpretation and keep basis differences explicit.
Related figures
Adjacent numbers that add context without drowning the value.
Thailand SME Manufacturing Establishment and Workforce Base
OSMEP SME White Paper 2024, FTI SME Automation Survey 2025
Myanmar and Cambodia Migrant Worker Exit from Thai Manufacturing
TDRI Policy Brief Migrant Labour and Thai Manufacturing Automation April 2025, FTI SME Automation Survey June 2025
Thailand Industrial Cobot and Smart-Factory SME Adoption Market Size
Insight derivation from Universal Robots APAC, Techman, Doosan, OMRON, Fanuc, Mitsubishi, ABB, KUKA, RaaS Thailand, OneAI Robotics, BOI filings, IFR World Robotics 2024
Universal Robots Thailand Cumulative Installed Base 2024 to 2027
Universal Robots Asia Pacific channel update October 2025, IFR World Robotics 2024 Thailand chapter, BOI Section 8 project filings
BOI Section 8 SME Cobot Incentive: 8-Year Tax Holiday, 50% Capex Credit, 0% Import Duty
BOI Section 8 A4 Guide 2024 and 2025 extension, BOI press release January 2025, DSD cobot operator reskill subsidy April 2025, FTPI smart-factory programme March 2025
Cobot-as-a-Service Monthly Subscription Pricing Thailand
RaaS Thailand subscription disclosure November 2025, OneAI Robotics case studies October 2025, Inferense and Hocomtechnology pricing brief
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