Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2662 actions· ✨ 89 recent

The Bank of Thailand and Ministry of Finance, together with the Thai Bankers' Association and Association of International Banks, launched "SMEs Credit Boost," a THB 20 billion (~USD 580 million) new loan-guarantee facility funded through a temporary reduction in commercial banks' 2026 FIDF (Financial Institutions Development Fund) contribution rather than new fiscal spending. The scheme guarantees 15-30% of new bank lending to SMEs and qualifying larger firms in government-prioritised "Reinvent Thailand" sectors, is projected to catalyse roughly THB 100 billion in new credit over 1-2 years, and took effect 2026-01-15.

Thailand's Board of Investment issued Notification No. Sor. 5/2568 (5/2025), dated 5 June 2025, amending the Schedule of Investment-Promoted Activities under BOI Notification No. 9/2565 across roughly 32 activity categories, including machinery and automotive, electrical appliances and electronics, metals and materials, public utilities, digital, and creative industries. The revision extends standard BOI tax and import-duty investment-promotion incentives to accumulator/battery-cell manufacturing activities within these categories, while discontinuing promoted status for metal-cutting activities (Category 5.4.10). The notification applies to investment- promotion applications submitted on or after 1 July 2025, and was later published in the Royal Gazette on 22 January 2026.

On 26 July 2024 the Thai National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee (EV Board), chaired by Deputy PM Pichai Chunhavajira, approved a dedicated excise-tax incentive package for hybrid-electric-vehicle (HEV, ≤ 10-seat passenger) manufacturing distinct from the BEV-only EV 3.5 regime. Qualifying manufacturers receive a locked excise rate of 6% on HEVs emitting ≤ 100 g CO2/km and 9% on 101-120 g CO2/km vehicles for the 2028-2032 period, conditional on a minimum new investment of THB 3 billion during 2024-2027, BOI approval, mandatory use of key Thai-produced parts, and inclusion of at least four of six listed ADAS safety features. The measure is expected to draw THB 50 billion (~USD 1.4 billion) in additional HEV manufacturing investment and is positioned as the intermediate-emission complement to EV 3.5's BEV-only purchase subsidies and 2% excise rate, extending Thailand's "EV Hub of ASEAN" industrial strategy to capture Japanese OEM hybrid-platform capex (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda) alongside the Chinese-OEM BEV wave already locked in under EV 3.5. The decision required separate Cabinet endorsement and was published via the BOI /EV-Board channel rather than amending the EV 3.5 instrument.

On 19 December 2023, the Thai Cabinet endorsed the second phase of the national electric-vehicle support programme ("EV 3.5") covering 2024-2027, following its approval by the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee. The Excise Department published the implementing Notification on 28 December 2023; the regime entered into force on 1 January 2024. EV 3.5 combines (i) per-vehicle purchase subsidies of THB 50,000-100,000 for battery-electric passenger cars and pick-ups, (ii) a reduction in excise duty on BEV passenger cars priced ≤ THB 7 million from 8% to 2%, and (iii) up to 40% import-duty relief on Completely Built-Up (CBU) BEV passenger cars priced ≤ THB 2 million during 2024-2025. Participating OEMs must offset CBU imports with domestic Thai production at a 1:2 ratio by end-2026 and 1:3 by end-2027, or face clawback of the granted incentives. The package is the operational successor to EV 3.0 (2022-2023) and was designed to lock in the wave of Chinese-OEM gigafactory and assembly investment that EV 3.0 attracted (BYD Rayong, MG/SAIC, GAC AION, Great Wall Motor, NETA, Changan, Chery). By the August 2025 EV-Board meeting Thailand had logged > THB 137 billion in approved EV-supply-chain investment under the combined EV 3.0 + EV 3.5 envelope. EV 3.5 is the central instrument in Thailand's "EV Hub of ASEAN" industrial strategy and the principal regional competitor to Indonesia's nickel-anchored EV-cluster bid and Vietnam's Decree 182 investment-support fund.