Thailand's BOI allocates over $2 billion to build a world‑class photonics hub for AI and high‑speed communications

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) announced that it has approved 79 photonics projects worth a total of 82.7 billion baht (about $2.3 billion) over the past five years. The projects cover the full supply chain—from 12 fiber‑optic lines (13.7 billion baht) to 47 optical component factories (19.5 billion baht) and 20 complete optical‑transceiver production lines (49.4 billion baht).\n\nAccording to BOI Secretary‑General Narat Teodtthirasak, “photonics technology is essential for the digital infrastructure of the AI era,” noting that the investment will create more than 20,000 skilled jobs and position Thailand as a regional base for AI data‑center and high‑speed communications equipment. Companies such as Lumentum Holdings (Thai affiliate), Silicetica, FabreNet, Trahop and Eopticlink are among the firms establishing production in the country, supplying firms like Nvidia, Cisco and Amazon Web Services.\n\nThe initiative aims to make Thailand a full‑cycle photonics manufacturing hub, supporting the global demand for optical‑based data transmission and low‑energy, high‑capacity networking.