Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) announced on Friday that it has greenlit new investments totaling $2 billion (66.9 billion baht) in data centers and electronics manufacturing. Among the approved investments is a $968.12 million (32.8 billion baht) commitment from a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (Google) to establish a hyperscale data center, as detailed in the BOI’s statement.
Additionally, the board reinstated several investment promotion packages and introduced relief measures tailored for promoted companies impacted by the recent floods in the North and Northeast regions of the country.
The approved projects are the following:
Quartz Computing Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, secured approval for a 32.8 billion baht investment to establish a hyperscale data center in Chonburi Province. This initiative was initially unveiled on September 30, 2024, during the visit to Thailand by a senior Google executive.
Digitalland Services (Thailand) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of GDS IDC Services PTE Ltd., was granted approval for a 28 billion baht investment to set up a hyperscale data center in Chonburi Province.
Cheng Yi Technology (Thailand) Co., Ltd. was approved for a 6.15 billion baht project aimed at manufacturing prepreg and copper clad laminate (CCL), essential elements utilized in the production of printed circuit boards (PCB). The manufacturing facility will be situated in TFD Industrial Estate 2, located in Chachoengsao Province.
The BOI has approved an extension by one year, until the end of 2025, for four incentive packages of investment promotion measures. These packages, which initially mandated submission of promotion applications by the conclusion of 2024, include:
- Retention & Expansion Program
- Relocation Program
- Investment Stimulation Measure for Economic Recovery
- Investment Promotion Measure for Upgrading the Automotive Industry.
Applications submitted between January 2023 and September 2024 under these four incentive packages amounted to a cumulative investment value surpassing 650 billion baht. Aligned with the 5-year investment promotion strategy (2023-2027), adjustments were made to several measures to more accurately mirror the prevailing investment climate.
Notably, within the revisions, the minimum actual investment necessary to qualify for benefits under the Investment Stimulation Measure for Economic Recovery has been elevated from the initial 1 billion baht to a revised threshold of no less than 2 billion baht.
