At the start of 2026, Thailand was making three bets: to join the global chip supply chain, to sell the world events rather than just holidays, and to adapt to green standards in time. By September the first had worked best. Exports are growing at their fastest pace in more than four years (+24.3% in August), driven by electronics, and on 24 September the country approved its first national semiconductor strategy. The surprise leader was the digital industry, above all data centres, which accounted for three quarters of applications in the first half of the year. So far, events are offsetting a decline in tourism rather than adding growth, and the green transition remains largely on paper.
Chips and electronics
The strategy for semiconductors and advanced electronics was approved on 24 September 2026. The targets for 2050 are about $80 billion in cumulative investment, $150 billion in annual industry revenue and more than 230,000 jobs. The path is split into three stages: by 2030, strengthen assembly and testing; by 2040, attract companies that design chips and make wafers; by 2050, close the whole chain within the country. The bet is on three areas: photonics for AI and data centres, power semiconductors for electric vehicles and grids, and sensors.
There are already factories behind the figures. The joint venture of Taiwan’s ZDT, the world’s largest maker of printed circuit boards, is building four projects worth more than 65 billion baht in Prachinburi province. On 1 October Infineon opened its first power module plant in Thailand, in Samut Prakan. Fabrinet, which makes optics for AI data centres in Thailand, grew its revenue by 36% over the year to $4.64 billion. Since 2023, investment applications in electronics have topped a trillion baht.
US tariffs have not stopped this growth. The rate for Thailand has changed: 19% in 2025, 10% after the US Supreme Court ruling in February 2026, and 12.5% from 24 July. But key electronics were exempted. In August exports rose by 24.3%, the fastest growth in 56 months, and shipments to the US by 48.7%. Over eight months exports brought in $266 billion, 18.9% more than a year earlier.
Data centres: the main magnet for money
Applications to the Board of Investment (BOI) reached a record 1.877 trillion baht in 2025, and 746 billion of that went to the digital industry. In the first half of 2026, applications already came to 1.473 trillion baht, and about 76% of that was the digital industry, above all data centres. Electronics, with 120 billion baht, trailed far behind.
The flip side is electricity. The energy minister does not rule out demand from data centres and AI reaching 30,000 MW. The government is preparing a separate tariff for new sites, deposits for grid connection and mandatory water use plans. Direct power purchase agreements for green energy (Direct PPA) were opened to all industries in July, but the rules are still out for public consultation. More on the applications and projects is in the breakdown of BOI investment.
Events instead of tourist numbers
Tourism has not helped the second bet: foreign arrivals fell by 7.2% in 2025 and by another 3.1% in January–August 2026. So events are about average spend and recognition, not a record number of visitors.
The state pays for them directly. Tomorrowland near Pattaya has been allocated 2 billion baht for five festivals, the first on 11–13 December 2026. MotoGP in Buriram was extended until 2031 for almost 4 billion baht. In October, Bangkok hosted the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, with 1.16 billion baht allocated for them. The government does not publish an overall budget for events, only decisions on each one. The tourism figures are in the 2025 and 2026 results.
The green transition: more plans than decisions
In November 2025 Thailand brought its net zero target forward from 2065 to 2050. But the main instrument, a climate change law with emissions trading and a carbon tax, has not yet been passed: it is under review by the Council of State, and it is expected to take effect no earlier than the third quarter of 2027. The cabinet approved a carbon tax of 200 baht per tonne back in January 2025, but built it into the existing excise duty, so fuel prices did not go up.
The car market is where real change is happening. In 2025 electric vehicles made up 19.4% of sales, and in January–July 2026 about 31%, with two thirds of them imported fully built, mostly from China. Not everything is going smoothly: Neta, which received about 2 billion baht in subsidies, failed to produce the promised cars after its Chinese parent company went bankrupt, and the Finance Ministry is going to court to get the money back. Of the 400 billion baht emergency loan the government took out in the spring because of the energy crisis amid the conflict in the Middle East, 200 billion has been earmarked for the energy transition: renewables, storage, charging stations and energy efficiency.
The economy as a whole
Thailand’s GDP grew by 2.4% in 2025. For 2026 the economic planning agency NESDC expects 2.0–2.5%, and the Bank of Thailand (forecast of 28 October) 2.4%. Growth rests on a narrow base: electronics exports driven by the AI boom, and private investment, which grew by 13.4% in the second quarter, the highest in 54 quarters. Consumption and tourism are weakening meanwhile, and the main risks are energy prices, US protectionism and household debt.
The bottom line
Of the three bets for 2026, only one has become real business: electronics and data centres. Electronics keeps growing, while data centres are waiting for new rules. Events are keeping tourism from falling further, while the climate agenda is waiting for the 2027 law. For an IT professional in Thailand the takeaway is practical: demand is shifting towards infrastructure, data centres and electronics, where the BOI is heading. How incentives for IT businesses work is covered in the article on the new BOI rules.
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