BOI promotion: which activity categories suit foreign-owned tech businesses?

If you want to own 100% of a software or tech company in Thailand as a foreigner, promotion by the Board of Investment (BOI) — a government incentive certificate granted to businesses in activities Thailand wants to attract — is usually the cleanest route. It removes the foreign-ownership cap, adds a corporate tax holiday, and dramatically simplifies visas and work permits.

But the rules have moved, and much of what you'll read online is out of date. The category numbering changed in January 2023, minimum salaries for foreign staff arrived in late 2025, and from 2026 promoted companies file quarterly progress reports instead of semi-annual ones. Everything below reflects the rules in force as of June 2026.

First, the numbering: forget category 5.10

Older articles (including an earlier version of this one) refer to software as category 5.10, or to the even older codes 5.7 (software), 5.8 (e-commerce) and 5.9 (digital services). Those were consolidated in September 2021, and the whole scheme was replaced when the BOI's current framework took effect in January 2023.

Today, digital activities sit in Section 8 "Digital Industry" of the promoted-activity list. The core category for software and tech companies is 8.1.1 — "Development of software, digital platform, or digital content." There is no longer a standalone e-commerce category: an e-commerce or marketplace platform developed in Thailand falls inside 8.1.1.

One more correction: the list is not updated on a fixed annual cycle. It is amended by rolling Board announcements throughout the year — most recently a refreshed package of investment measures announced on 15 January 2026, replacing packages that expired in 2025. Check the current announcement, not last year's blog post.

Category 8.1.1: the home for most foreign tech companies

8.1.1 covers software development, SaaS, digital platforms and digital content created in Thailand. It sits in incentive group A2, which means an 8-year corporate income tax exemption — capped, as explained below — plus the full set of non-tax benefits.

The defining condition is unusual. Most BOI categories require a minimum capital investment of THB 1 million. Category 8.1.1 does not. Instead, it uses a salary test:

• THB 1.5 million per year in salaries for Thai IT personnel hired after you apply for promotion (temporary Thai IT staff can count toward it). Staff already on payroll before the application do not count.
• The development work must happen in Thailand. A shell that resells software built abroad will not qualify.
• Retail and wholesale revenue is excluded from the promotion — only the development activity is covered.
• Used computers and machinery are allowed. (Older articles claiming you must buy brand-new hardware reflect superseded conditions.)
• Full operation within 12 months of the certificate being issued, with no extension available.

In practice, THB 1.5 million a year means roughly two to four Thai developers, engineers or IT staff on payroll — every year, for as long as you rely on the promotion. If your model is "me, my co-founder, and contractors overseas," 8.1.1 is not built for you.

What you actually get — and the fine print on the tax holiday

The headline benefits for a promoted 8.1.1 company:

• 100% foreign ownership, without applying for a Foreign Business License (the discretionary permit a majority-foreign company otherwise needs for most service businesses).
• 8 years of corporate income tax exemption — but capped. As an A2 category, the exemption ceiling is set each year at 100% of your qualifying expenditure: new and temporary Thai IT salaries, IT training (counted at 200%), and the cost of ISO 29110 or CMMI Level 2+ certification. Small payroll, small cap. The uncapped 8-year holiday belongs to A1 categories; the 10–13-year A1+ tier is reserved for targeted technology such as advanced semiconductors — ordinary software does not get there.
• Import-duty exemption on machinery used in the project.
• Fast-track visas and work permits for foreign staff (more below).
• Limited land-ownership rights. Under Section 27 of the Investment Promotion Act, even a majority-foreign promoted company may own land for the promoted activity — but the rules in force since December 2024 (Announcement No. 16/2567) keep it modest: up to 5 rai for offices and up to 20 rai for staff housing, normally with THB 50 million paid-up capital maintained throughout, and with strict conditions on what the land may be used for. The land is tied to the project and must be sold within one year if promotion ends — not a back door to property ownership. The caps depend on the exact use, so confirm the current position with us before relying on this.

For context: A1+ means 10–13 years of CIT exemption uncapped, A1 8 years uncapped, A2 8 years capped, A3 5 years capped, A4 3 years, and B non-tax benefits only (ownership, visas, duty relief — no tax holiday).

Adjacent categories worth checking before you file

Software is not the only fit. Depending on what your business actually does, a neighbouring category may give you more — or trip you up:

• 8.1.2 — Modification of software, platforms or content. If you only customise or localise existing products, you fall here: group B, so no tax holiday and no land rights.
• 8.2.1 — Data centres. A2 if the facility achieves PUE of 1.3 or lower with at least 2 MW of IT load (8.2.1.1); otherwise A3 (8.2.1.2).
• 8.2.2 — Cloud services. A2, but you need two ISO/IEC 27001-certified data centres in Thailand — an infrastructure play, not a SaaS reseller category.
• 8.2.4 — GPU data hosting. A2, with a THB 5,000 million minimum — enterprise scale only.
• 8.3.3 — Co-working space. Group B only.
• 10.2 — R&D and 10.3 — Engineering design (excluding civil and architectural design). Both are A1 — 8 years of uncapped tax exemption — with a softer entry test: THB 1.5 million per year in new R&D or design salaries or THB 1 million in capital investment (excluding land, working capital and vehicles). If your Thai operation genuinely does research or hard engineering design, this can beat 8.1.1.
• Warning — 8.4.1 Smart City area development requires Thai nationals to hold at least 51% of the shares. It is one of the few digital categories not open to majority-foreign ownership.

A clear, honest fit in one category is worth more than a stretched fit in a higher tier — the BOI interviews applicants, and a project description that doesn't match reality surfaces quickly. Your company also stays locked to the approved scope afterwards: pivoting requires a formal BOI amendment.

Visas and work permits: the quiet headline benefit

For many founders, the immigration privileges matter more than the tax holiday. A BOI company uses the online e-Expert system and the One Stop Service Center at Chamchuri Square in Bangkok: once a foreign position is approved, each person's visa extension and work permit takes about 3–4 business days. There is no THB 2 million registered capital per foreigner and no four-Thai-employees-per-foreigner quota — the rules that constrain ordinary companies (see our comparison of work permit routes).

Since Announcement Por.8/2568, however, foreign hires in promoted projects face minimum monthly salaries: THB 150,000 for executives; THB 75,000 for management, engineers and IT specialists (THB 50,000 if the person holds a related bachelor's degree); and THB 50,000 for technicians. These took effect on 1 October 2025 for certificates issued on or after 5 June 2025, and on 1 January 2026 for older certificates. Service businesses and operations with up to 100 employees face no mandatory Thai-to-foreign staff ratio — but larger manufacturing projects must keep at least a 70% Thai workforce, and the salary floors apply to everyone.

Ongoing compliance in 2026: quarterly reports are new

This is where most outdated guidance goes wrong. As of June 2026, BOI compliance looks like this:

• Quarterly e-Monitoring reports during the implementation phase (certificate issued, operating license not yet obtained). BOI Announcement No. 8/2569 (dated 30 March 2026) and Office Announcement Por.5/2569 (20 April 2026) replaced the old semi-annual progress reports with quarterly filings, effective from the quarter ending 30 March 2026. Each report is due within 60 days of quarter-end — the first deadline was 31 May 2026. Two consecutive missed filings can trigger revocation of the promotion.
• An annual performance report (form Tor.Sor.310) via the e-Monitoring system.
• The operating-license step once you reach full operation, confirming you met the project conditions.

There are no monthly BOI filings. The monthly work — VAT and withholding-tax returns — is owed to the Revenue Department by every Thai company, promoted or not, along with the half-year and annual corporate income tax returns and the annual audit. BOI promotion changes how much tax you pay, not whether you file.

The stakes are real: if the promotion is revoked for breached conditions, the Revenue Department can reassess previously exempted profits at the normal 20% corporate income tax rate.

Realistic timeline: think 3–6 months, not 6 weeks

The official review clock is 40 working days for projects under THB 200 million — which covers nearly all software applicants — rising to 60 working days up to THB 2 billion and 90 above that. The decision is notified within about 7 working days, and the certificate follows roughly 10 working days after you submit the post-approval documents.

But the clock only starts once a complete application is accepted. Add document preparation, financial projections, the officer interview and the certificate paperwork, and the realistic end-to-end timeline is about 3 to 6 months. You can register the Thai company in parallel, but the privileges only operate once the certificate is in hand — build the wait into your launch plan.

When BOI is not worth it

BOI promotion is a serious commitment, not a formality. Advisers commonly put the practical break-even — where the benefits outweigh the compliance burden — at roughly US$1 million of project scale, with a clear advantage typically above US$3 million. Think twice if:

• You cannot sustain THB 1.5 million a year in new Thai IT salaries on top of your other costs.
• You won't be meaningfully profitable inside the exemption window — a tax holiday on zero profit is worth zero.
• Your business model is still changing. BOI locks you to the approved scope; a pivot means an amendment application.
• Quarterly reporting discipline isn't realistic for your back office.

The alternatives: a Foreign Business License — typically 1–3 months, but discretionary with no guaranteed approval, and you pay the normal 20% corporate tax — gives 100% ownership with more freedom to adjust activities. A genuine Thai-majority company avoids the foreign-business restrictions entirely, provided the Thai shareholding is real, not nominee. And US citizens should look at the Treaty of Amity before anything else. We walk through this decision in detail as part of our BOI promotion service — the mapping conversation usually takes about 30 minutes and regularly ends with "don't apply."

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This article is general guidance — not legal or tax advice. If you'd like a scoped opinion on how it applies to your specific situation, contact our team.