Actual investment in Thailand by projects holding Board of Investment privileges rose 28% from a year earlier to more than 260 billion baht in the third quarter, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said on Friday.

The figure matters because it measures money that has been spent, not pledges. Promotion applications have surged this year, largely for data centers and electronics, and investors have been waiting for evidence that those pledges turn into construction and equipment orders. Ekniti said the quarter was the third in a row of growth in actual investment, according to Nation Thailand and Thairath, which both reported his comments at Government House after he briefed Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Digital and electronics lead Thailand's BOI investment

The digital sector drew the most actual investment in the quarter, Ekniti said. Smart electronics ranked second and grew strongly, he added, a category that covers sensors, many of them used in modern vehicles, and components for optical data transmission. Food and agriculture, mainly food processing, came third.

By type of spending, most of the money went into construction, which rose more than 30%, according to both reports. Ekniti said that pointed to better conditions for employment and for contractors. He said investment had created work for about 600,000 people since the start of the year.

He described the numbers as evidence that the economy was improving and that the government's investment-led approach was working. The BOI secretary-general will give full details at a later briefing, he said, so a sector breakdown in baht and a split between foreign and Thai investors were not yet available.

The quarterly data follow strong figures on the pipeline. On Oct. 26 the BOI said applications for investment promotion rose 28% in the first nine months of 2026 to 1.71 trillion baht across 1,954 projects, according to a Xinhua report carried by The Star. Digital projects accounted for more than 1.17 trillion baht from 139 projects, nearly double a year earlier. Applications from foreign investors jumped 62% to 1.55 trillion baht.

Thansettakij reported the same day that Singapore was the largest source of foreign applications, at about 1.16 trillion baht from 214 projects, followed by China, Britain, Japan and Taiwan. The agency also issued promotion certificates, the step closest to actual spending, for 1,961 projects worth about 1.05 trillion baht, up 10%, the paper said.

The gap between those headline pledge numbers and quarterly spending of about 260 billion baht shows how slowly large data center projects move from approval to concrete and servers. Capital Times reported last month that private investment jumped in September on spending tied to data centers, while the Bank of Thailand raised its export forecast on AI demand.

Local suppliers and a Japan roadshow

Ekniti said he had told the BOI secretary-general to speed up talks with foreign companies operating in Thailand so that more Thai firms can join their supply chains. He wants raw materials and components sourced from Thai suppliers so that domestic businesses benefit directly, rather than the country serving only as a production base. He also wants foreign investors to transfer skills and hire more Thai workers.

The concern is a familiar one. Many of the new electronics and data center plants rely heavily on imported parts, which limits how much of the spending stays in the local economy. The BOI has said projects it approved in the first nine months are expected to use more than 693 billion baht a year in local raw materials and parts.

Next week Ekniti will take a BOI delegation to Japan. Thansettakij reported on Nov. 4 that the trip runs from Nov. 18 to 20 and includes the industry minister and the chairmen of the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Thai Bankers' Association, along with more than 40 Thai business executives. The group plans to meet six Japanese carmakers with plants in Thailand: Toyota, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Nissan.

Ekniti said on Friday that many Japanese companies, particularly automakers, had asked for meetings after Thailand restructured its vehicle excise taxes. The delegation will also hold a semiconductor meeting with Japanese chip companies, Thansettakij reported.

Japan's share of new pledges has been modest this year. Japanese investors filed 192 projects worth about 45.4 billion baht in the first nine months of 2026, Thansettakij reported, compared with 302 projects worth more than 113.7 billion baht in all of 2025.

Ekniti also repeated the government's line that Thailand is neutral and can trade with every side, calling the country a "Trusted Connector." The next marker for investors is the BOI secretary-general's detailed third-quarter briefing, followed by the Japan meetings from Nov. 18.