Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) promotion is applied for by developers and operators, not by individual buyers — but its tax holidays, import duty relief and Section 27 land rights still shape the projects foreign investors buy into, and BOI itself administers a visa investment track that can involve Thai property directly. This guide explains what BOI status actually changes for an investor, and where it doesn't.
← BOI Incentives for Developers (the promotion-application guide)
Individual investors don't apply for BOI promotion themselves. BOI status reaches you two ways: indirectly, through a promoted developer or operator's tax holiday, duty relief and land rights showing up in project economics and structure, and directly, if you use BOI's own Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa investment track, where property can count toward the qualifying investment. This guide covers both, and what to verify before treating “BOI-promoted” as automatically a plus.
It's easy to see “BOI-promoted” on a project brochure and assume it means something was granted to you personally. In practice there are two separate channels, and they rarely overlap on the same deal:
A BOI-promoted developer or operator commonly gets a corporate income tax holiday — often 3 to 8 years depending on the activity's incentive tier — plus import duty exemption on qualifying machinery and materials. Lower tax and construction cost can support sharper pricing, a stronger balance sheet, or faster build-out on the specific project you're buying into, but none of that is a benefit paid to you; it shows up (or doesn't) in the deal you're actually offered.
Section 27 of the Investment Promotion Act is the other piece: it lets BOI grant a promoted company — even one that's wholly foreign-owned — the right to own land reasonably necessary for its certified activity, bypassing the Land Code restriction that otherwise blocks majority-foreign companies from holding land. If your investment runs through a company structure with this right, that land right is tied to the certified activity and can lapse if the company stops that activity or its BOI certificate is revoked — worth understanding before you assume the land underneath your investment is permanently secured. See the full mechanics in our developer-focused BOI guide and foreign ownership structures.
If you're evaluating a commercial deal using NOI, cap rate or IRR (see our cap rate, NOI & IRR guide), a BOI-promoted operator's tax holiday doesn't change your NOI calculation directly — it changes the operator's own cost of capital and risk profile, which can flow through to the rent or price you're quoted, the operator's ability to weather a slow lease-up period, or how aggressively they can compete on rate. Treat a counterparty's BOI status as one input into their financial stability and pricing power, not as a line item in your own return math.
BOI administers Thailand's Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa, which includes categories such as Wealthy Global Citizen and Wealthy Pensioner. These categories typically require a minimum annual personal income, with a reduced-income path available if paired with a minimum qualifying investment — commonly framed around Thai government bonds, foreign direct investment, or Thai property. This is the one place BOI policy touches a real estate investor's own application directly rather than through a project.
The specific income thresholds, qualifying investment amounts and accepted investment types are set by BOI and have been adjusted before, so don't plan a purchase around a figure you saw in an old article or a broker's pitch — confirm current criteria directly on BOI's LTR visa portal or with a licensed visa agent before committing capital toward a visa outcome. See our LTR visa guide for the full visa-side picture.
Areas with concentrated BOI-promoted activity — the Eastern Economic Corridor around Chonburi and Rayong, IEAT industrial estates, data center and logistics clusters — tend to attract corporate relocation, skilled labor and supporting infrastructure, which can support rental demand for nearby housing, retail and corporate housing. That's a directional signal worth factoring into a location decision. It is not a guarantee: BOI zone status is industrial policy, and a slow anchor-tenant rollout, regional oversupply, or a shift in a promoted company's plans can offset the demand a zone was expected to generate. Cross-check zone-level BOI activity against actual absorption and vacancy data before treating proximity to a BOI zone as a standalone investment thesis.
BAANLYY can connect you with vetted BOI consultants, Thai lawyers and licensed visa agents to confirm current terms before you commit capital.
Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
General information only — not legal, tax or investment advice. BOI promotion terms, incentive tiers, Section 27 land-ownership terms, and LTR visa income and investment thresholds are set by the Board of Investment and revised periodically. Always confirm current eligibility and terms directly with the Board of Investment or a licensed Thai lawyer / visa agent before relying on them or committing capital. BAANLYY never takes paid placement.