Mechanism
The BOI's data center investment promotion was restructured in two steps during 2025. First, Notification No. 5/2568 (5 June 2025) amended the Activity List to split the former single data-center group (previously classified under Group A1) into two distinct sub-categories: (i) high-efficiency data centers (Group A2, PUE ≤ 1.3) and (ii) other data centers (Group A3). Second, Notification No. 9/2568 (14 November 2025) added location-based differentiation, tying the duration and conditions of the CIT exemption to whether the project is located inside or outside Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
CIT exemption structure under the November 2025 regime:
| Category | Location | CIT exemption |
|---|
| High-efficiency (PUE ≤ 1.3) | Outside EEC | 8 years |
| High-efficiency (PUE ≤ 1.3) | Inside EEC | 8 years (potentially enhanced EEC package) |
| Other data centers | Any | 5 years |
New benefit conditions (both tiers): Applicants must submit a plan demonstrating tangible benefits to Thailand, which may include: training programmes for Thai personnel, joint curriculum development with Thai universities, R&D activities conducted in Thailand, enhancement of Thai SME capabilities, or support of the domestic supply chain. This plan must be fully implemented before the CIT exemption can be exercised — a demand-side conditionality mechanism structurally distinct from prior BOI investment promotion rules.
Advanced computing and infrastructure conditions: Projects must demonstrate advanced computing capabilities, present well-planned electricity and water management programmes, and include explicit training and knowledge transfer to Thai nationals. These requirements reflect the BOI's shift from a pure FDI-attraction posture toward a capability-building mandate aligned with the National AI Policy and National Semiconductor Strategy.
Downstream implications
- The two-tier system sharply incentivises power-efficiency investment: developers targeting hyperscale AI-inference workloads (where energy consumption is a dominant cost) gain a 3-year CIT advantage by meeting the PUE ≤ 1.3 threshold. This structurally favours Tier IV/III facilities from hyperscalers (AWS, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle) over older colocation stock.
- The Thailand-benefit plan conditionality embeds a de facto local-content requirement in a sector previously exempt from such obligations. Law firms' practical guidance (Tilleke, Lexology) indicates this materially affects project timelines, as BOI approval is contingent on the plan's credibility, and CIT benefits are withheld until implementation is verified.
- The November 2025 restructure directly enabled the BOI's Q1 2026 batch approvals totalling THB 96bn across 7 data-center projects (including DAMAC Digital's 84 MW hyperscale facility in Pathum Thani, KDDI's Telehouse 12 MW expansion, and ZDATA/Vistas's 80 MW Amata City site). Total 2025 data-center BOI pipeline reached THB 728bn across 36 applications — a record for any BOI sector.
- Thailand's two-tier PUE-conditioned regime is directly comparable to Singapore's DCI/EDCI split (filed) and Malaysia's NIMP 2030 data-center efficiency mandate: a regional convergence toward efficiency-conditioned investment promotion in digital infrastructure.
- The responds_to link to 2026-01-07-thailand-national-semiconductor-strategy is asymmetric: the semiconductor strategy targets the supply side (chip design, wafer-level packaging, OSAT), while this data-center restructure targets the demand side (compute infrastructure). Together they constitute Thailand's digital-hub industrial-policy architecture.
Open questions
- Exact text of Notification No. 9/2568 (BOI Gazette) — the BOI website hosts Thai-language versions of Notifications; wake-filing should retrieve the canonical Thai-language official gazette reference when accessible.
- Whether the EEC-inside premium (if any beyond the base 8-year exemption) includes the EEC-zone-specific R&D and human-capital-development allowances under the Eastern Special Development Zone Act B.E. 2561 (2018).
- The Thailand-benefit plan conditionality has not yet been tested through a full BOI project lifecycle (Q1 2026 approvals are the first batch under the new regime); watch for BOI audit/enforcement practice on the pre-exercise verification step.