(March 17): Thailand approved investment applications worth a combined 200 billion baht (US$5.9 billion or RM26.42 billion), led by a Bangkok transit line and three data centres, giving a potential boost to the nation’s lacklustre economic growth.

The biggest project is Bangkok Expressway and Metro Pcl’s 109 billion baht investment in the so-called Orange Line to help connect Bangkok’s western and eastern suburbs, according to a Board of Investment (BOI) statement after a board meeting on Monday.

Also approved for tax and other incentives were three data centre and cloud services projects, the largest being China’s Beijing Haoyang Cloud Data Technology Co’s 72.7 billion baht plan for a facility with an information technology load of 300 megawatts in the Rayong province, the BOI said. In January, social media platform TikTok won approval to invest US$3.8 billion in data-hosting services. 

“Ensuring that the digital infrastructure, including data centres, keeps in line with the demand of foreign investors and local entrepreneurs is essential to Thailand’s competitiveness,” said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, the secretary general of the BOI.

The government is seeking to ramp up economic growth this year to as high as 3.5%, from 2.5% in 2024, by boosting exports, tourism and investment. Investment applications jumped 35% year-on-year to US$33 billion in 2024, the most in about a decade, led by foreign firms’ projects in the digital sector.

The board also revised rules to encourage projects in the healthcare sector by offering companies entering joint ventures with government agencies longer income-tax holidays if they build hospitals with at least 91 beds for overnight patients, according to the statement.

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