Thailand sees $43.6bn AI‑driven investment boom in first half of 2026

Thailand’s Board of Investment reported that investment applications rose 37% year‑on‑year to $43.6 billion (about 1.47 trillion baht) across 1,299 projects in the first six months of 2026. The digital sector, especially AI and data‑center projects, accounted for roughly $33 billion, driving an 80% surge in foreign‑direct‑investment applications to $40.5 billion. Singapore was the largest source of FDI with $33.2 billion, followed by the United Kingdom, China, Taiwan and Japan.

The board expects the approved projects to create more than 82,000 jobs, generate annual exports above 1.24 trillion baht and consume about 386 billion baht of local materials each year. In parallel, Gulf Edge and Cognizant announced a strategic AI and services partnership aimed at building Thailand’s AI‑native economy, offering infrastructure, platforms and enterprise solutions for sectors such as finance, energy, health care and manufacturing.