Foreign investment in Thailand rose in both volume and value in the first 11 months of 2025, with total approved investment reaching 331.162 billion baht, up 45% year on year, according to the Department of Business Development (DBD).
Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, Director-General of the DBD under the Commerce Ministry, said approvals for foreign nationals to operate businesses in Thailand under the Foreign Business Act, B.E. 2542 (1999)—limited to businesses required to obtain permission—in November 2025 totalled 104 cases.
Of these, 35 were investments approved through applications for a foreign business licence, while 69 were approvals for a foreign business certificate—covering investment channels under the investment promotion law, authorisation under the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand law, and treaty or international agreement rights. Total investment in November was 34.426 billion baht, with most investors coming from Singapore, China and Japan, he said.
For the January–November 2025 period, approvals totalled 973 cases, comprising 263 licence applications and 710 foreign business certificates. Total investment value was 331.162 billion baht.
The number of approvals in the 11-month period increased by 89 cases (10%) from 884 in the same period of 2024, while investment value rose by 97.198 billion baht (45%) from 213.964 billion baht, Poonpong said.