# BOI Sor. 9/2568: Restructured Data-Center Activity Conditions Effective 14 November 2025

- Canonical URL: https://www.lexcelsiam.com/observation/boi-sor-9-2568-data-center-restructured-prc-investor-conditions
- Locale: en
- Collection: /observation
- Published: 2026-05-09
- Last Updated: 2026-05-09
- Author: Lexcelsiam Regulatory Intelligence Desk (BOI Investment Promotion & Data-Center Activity Codes Review)
- Reviewed By: Lexcelsiam Thailand Legal Review Desk (Investment Promotion Conditions & BOI Application Review)
- Category: Investment Promotion
- Tags: BOI, Sor 9/2568, Data Center, Thailand, PUE, EEC, Investment Promotion, 2026
- Source Documents: BOI Notification Sor. 9/2568 (14 November 2025); 2025 BOI Investment Promotion Guide; BOI Notification Por 8/2568 (5 June 2025)
- Related Slugs: thailand-boi-2025-energy-sector-investment-incentives, boi-3-2569-2026-economic-recovery-stimulus

## Executive Summary

BOI Notification Sor. 9/2568 (14 November 2025) restructures data-center activity 8.2.1 into a high-energy-efficiency tier (8.2.1.1, PUE ≤ 1.3) and an other-data-center tier (8.2.1.2), and introduces a 2 MW IT Load entry threshold, ISO/IEC 27001 and Thailand-benefit-plan completion as pre-conditions to CIT exemption, and a 50% Thai management/expert workforce target within 3 years.

## Full Text

# BOI Sor. 9/2568: Restructured Data-Center Activity Conditions Effective 14 November 2025

## TL;DR

- BOI Notification Sor. 9/2568 of 14 November 2025 restructures Section 8.2.1 Data Center into two sub-activities: **8.2.1.1** (high-energy-efficiency data centres, PUE ≤ 1.3) and **8.2.1.2** (other data centres, no PUE requirement).
- Both sub-activities require an **IT Load of not less than 2 MW**, ISO/IEC 27001 (Data Center) certification, a water-management plan, and a **50% Thai management/expert workforce target within 3 years**.
- Incentive mapping under §1.17 (8.2.1.1) and §1.16 (8.2.1.2): non-EEC siting yields a longer CIT exemption period than EEC siting for both sub-activities — **8.2.1.1 = A2 outside EEC / A3 inside EEC**; **8.2.1.2 = A3 outside EEC / A4 inside EEC**.
- For 8.2.1.1, three conditions are CIT-exemption pre-conditions: **PUE ≤ 1.3**, **ISO/IEC 27001 certification**, and **completion of the Thailand-benefit plan**. For 8.2.1.2, the same applies less the PUE item.
- Sor. 9/2568 governs applications **filed from 14 November 2025 onward**; earlier filings remain under the Sor. 5/2568 framework.

## What changed

Sor. 9/2568, signed by Mr Ekniti Nitithanprapas as Deputy Prime Minister and acting Chairman of the Board, invokes Section 16 of the Investment Promotion Act B.E. 2520 and amends the activity list attached to BOI Notification 9/2565 of 8 December 2022. Article 1 supersedes the conditions previously inserted by Sor. 5/2568 of 5 June 2025 and substitutes the conditions now codified for activities 8.2.1.1 and 8.2.1.2: "ซึ่งแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยประกาศคณะกรรมการส่งเสริมการลงทุน ที่ ส. ๕/๒๕๖๘ ลงวันที่ ๕ มิถุนายน ๒๕๖๘ และให้ใช้ความต่อไปนี้แทน".

The January 2025 BOI Investment Promotion Guide records the pre-amendment baseline: a single 8.2.1 Data Center activity at the A1 tier (8 years CIT, uncapped) with 13 conditions and no PUE, Thailand-benefit-plan or workforce-composition requirement. Sor. 9/2568 replaces that single-tier baseline with the two-tier framework below, places both tiers in the capped CIT brackets (A2 through A4), and introduces pre-conditions that gate the CIT exemption.

## Two-tier activity structure and incentive mapping

Activity 8.2.1.1 (high-energy-efficiency data centre) carries 17 conditions. The defining engineering threshold is §1.1: "ต้องมี POWER USAGE EFFECTIVENESS (PUE) ไม่เกิน ๑.๓ ก่อนการใช้สิทธิและประโยชน์ยกเว้นภาษีเงินได้นิติบุคคล" — PUE not exceeding 1.3, measured before the CIT exemption is exercised. The remaining conditions impose an IT Load not less than 2 MW (§1.3); a telecommunications backbone of at least four circuits, of which at least three are domestic at not less than 10 Gbps each and aggregate speed across all circuits is not less than 60 Gbps (§1.4); concurrently maintainable operation, generator and UPS redundancy, independent distribution paths, failure-risk prevention, high-efficiency HVAC, whole-area fire prevention and 24-hour security (§§1.5–1.12); ISO/IEC 27001 (Data Center) certification before CIT exemption (§1.13); a water-management plan (§1.14); a Thailand-benefit plan completed before CIT exemption (§1.15); and a 50% Thai management/expert workforce within three years (§1.16).

Activity 8.2.1.2 (other data centres) carries 16 conditions and is structurally identical to 8.2.1.1 except that there is no PUE requirement. The remaining engineering, certification, water-plan, Thailand-benefit-plan and workforce conditions track 8.2.1.1.

The incentive mapping is set by §1.17 for 8.2.1.1 and §1.16 for 8.2.1.2. Under the Guide's basic-incentives table, A2 is 8 years CIT capped at 100% of investment; A3 is 5 years CIT capped at 100% of investment; and A4 is 3 years CIT capped at 100% of investment. Applying that table to the Sor. 9/2568 mapping produces:

- **8.2.1.1 in EEC**: A3 (5 years CIT, capped at 100% of investment).
- **8.2.1.1 outside EEC**: A2 (8 years CIT, capped at 100% of investment).
- **8.2.1.2 in EEC**: A4 (3 years CIT, capped at 100% of investment).
- **8.2.1.2 outside EEC**: A3 (5 years CIT, capped at 100% of investment).

Under Sor. 9/2568, non-EEC siting yields a longer CIT exemption period than EEC siting for both 8.2.1.1 and 8.2.1.2. EEC siting may attract separate measures under the BOI's EEC-specific framework, but those measures are outside the scope of Sor. 9/2568 and are not addressed here.

## 50% Thai management and expert workforce — three-year target

Sor. 9/2568 §1.16 (8.2.1.1) and §1.15 (8.2.1.2) are identically worded: "ต้องมีการจ้างงานบุคลากรไทยในตำแหน่งบริหารและ/หรือผู้เชี่ยวชาญเป็นจำนวนไม่น้อยกว่าร้อยละ ๕๐ ของจำนวนบุคลากรทั้งหมดในตำแหน่งดังกล่าว ภายในระยะเวลา ๓ ปี" — at least 50% Thai personnel in management and/or expert positions, calculated against the total headcount in those positions, within three years. The calculation base is the management/expert tier, not the firm's total workforce.

This activity-specific rule runs in parallel with BOI Notification Por 8/2568 of 5 June 2025. Por 8/2568 §4.2.1 imposes a 70% Thai-workforce overall ratio only on manufacturing entities with more than 100 total employees; §4.2.2 confirms that services entities have no specific Thai-employee ratio. Data centres are services for this purpose, so §4.2.1's 70% rule does not apply. Por 8/2568 nonetheless governs each individual expatriate hire through the position-approval terms in §§4.3–4.6 (generally up to 2 years per approval) and the minimum-salary thresholds in §5 (≥ THB 150,000 for executive positions; ≥ THB 75,000 for management, engineering and IT positions, reducible to ≥ THB 50,000 with a bachelor's degree; ≥ THB 50,000 for operational positions).

Por 8/2568 itself sets two effective dates under §11: 1 October 2025 for promotion certificates issued from Por 8/2568's publication date (5 June 2025) onward (§11.1), and 1 January 2026 for promotion certificates issued before that publication date (§11.2). New data-center promotions issued under Sor. 9/2568 (filings from 14 November 2025 forward) accordingly fall within §11.1 and are subject to Por 8/2568 from the certificate's issuance date.

## CIT exemption pre-conditions

Three conditions in 8.2.1.1 carry the Thai phrase "ก่อนการใช้สิทธิและประโยชน์ยกเว้นภาษีเงินได้นิติบุคคล" — "before exercising the corporate-income-tax-exemption right and benefit". These are PUE ≤ 1.3 (§1.1), ISO/IEC 27001 (Data Center) certification (§1.13), and completion of the Thailand-benefit plan (§1.15). For 8.2.1.2, the pre-conditions are ISO/IEC 27001 (§1.12) and Thailand-benefit-plan completion (§1.14).

The operational consequence is that the CIT-exemption clock does not start at promotion-certificate issuance. It starts only after the relevant pre-conditions are satisfied: for 8.2.1.1, a PUE figure measured on a steady-state operating facility (so the data centre must already be running before the figure can be certified), an ISO/IEC 27001 (Data Center) certificate (the certification cycle is typically 6–12 months [verify]), and a Thailand-benefit plan that the BOI Office has accepted as completed. For 8.2.1.2, the gap is narrower because PUE is not in scope, but the ISO/IEC 27001 and Thailand-benefit-plan pre-conditions remain.

## Recommended general procedure

1. Make the siting decision in light of the §1.17 / §1.16 incentive structure: non-EEC siting maximises the CIT exemption period for both 8.2.1.1 and 8.2.1.2 under Sor. 9/2568. EEC siting decisions should rest on broader grounds (separate BOI EEC measures, supplier-cluster considerations, infrastructure access) and not on the headline CIT figure within Sor. 9/2568.
2. Plan the management/expert workforce to reach 50% Thai composition by the third anniversary, measured against the management/expert tier rather than total headcount. Each expatriate hire must independently satisfy Por 8/2568 §5 minimum-salary thresholds and the §§4.3–4.6 position-approval terms.
3. Budget the compliance-documentation track in parallel with construction: ISO/IEC 27001 (Data Center) certification, PUE measurement on a steady-state facility (8.2.1.1 only), and design and submission of the Thailand-benefit plan under the criteria announced by the BOI Office.
4. Sequence the application filing carefully. Sor. 9/2568 Article 2 provides: "ประกาศนี้ให้ใช้บังคับกับคำขอรับการส่งเสริมที่ยื่นขอตั้งแต่วันที่ประกาศเป็นต้นไป". Applications filed on or after 14 November 2025 are governed by Sor. 9/2568; earlier filings continue under the prior Sor. 5/2568 framework.
5. Model the cash-flow gap between promotion-certificate issuance and CIT-exemption start, recognising that the gap is driven by the PUE measurement window (8.2.1.1 only), the ISO/IEC 27001 certification timeline, and the Thailand-benefit-plan completion timeline.

## FAQ

**Q1. Does Sor. 9/2568 apply to a data-center promotion certificate issued before 14 November 2025?**

**A1. No. Article 2 states that the notification applies to applications for promotion filed from the publication date onward. A certificate issued on an application filed before 14 November 2025 remains governed by the framework in force when that application was filed — Sor. 5/2568 for filings between 5 June 2025 and 13 November 2025. The new 8.2.1.1 / 8.2.1.2 conditions do not bind earlier filings retroactively.**

**Q2. Does the 50% Thai management/expert requirement under Sor. 9/2568 run on top of Por 8/2568's 70% Thai-workforce rule?**

**A2. The two rules are parallel, not stacked. Por 8/2568 §4.2.1's 70% rule applies only to manufacturing entities with more than 100 employees; §4.2.2 confirms that services entities have no specific Thai-employee ratio. Data centres are services. Sor. 9/2568 §1.16 (8.2.1.1) and §1.15 (8.2.1.2) is the activity-specific workforce-composition rule — 50% Thai personnel in management and/or expert positions, measured against the headcount in those positions, within three years. Por 8/2568 continues to apply to each individual expatriate hire through its position-approval terms and minimum-salary thresholds.**

**Q3. When does the corporate-income-tax exemption period actually start?**

**A3. It starts only after the relevant pre-conditions are satisfied, not at promotion-certificate issuance. For 8.2.1.1, the three pre-conditions are PUE ≤ 1.3 (measured on a steady-state operating facility), ISO/IEC 27001 (Data Center) certification, and completion of the Thailand-benefit plan. For 8.2.1.2, only the ISO/IEC 27001 and Thailand-benefit-plan pre-conditions apply. The Thai phrase "ก่อนการใช้สิทธิและประโยชน์ยกเว้นภาษีเงินได้นิติบุคคล" in each of these conditions is what creates the timing gap.**

**Q4. Is EEC siting still preferable for a data-center investment under Sor. 9/2568?**

**A4. The headline CIT exemption period under Sor. 9/2568 is shorter inside EEC than outside for both 8.2.1.1 (A3 inside, A2 outside) and 8.2.1.2 (A4 inside, A3 outside). EEC siting may nonetheless be desirable for reasons outside the scope of Sor. 9/2568 — separate BOI EEC-specific measures, infrastructure access, supplier-cluster economics — but those reasons are not assessed here.**

**Q5. What proves "completion" of the Thailand-benefit plan for CIT-exemption purposes?**

**A5. Sor. 9/2568 §1.15 (8.2.1.1) and §1.14 (8.2.1.2) require the plan to be submitted under criteria announced by the BOI Office and to be "completed" before the CIT exemption is exercised. The notification does not itself specify what constitutes completion; that determination is referred to the Office's criteria. Applicants should treat the plan as a critical-path item and confirm acceptance criteria with the Office at the application stage rather than after certificate issuance.**

## Sources

| Source | Issuer | Date | URL |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [BOI Notification Sor. 9/2568 — Amendment to Activity List under Notification 9/2565 (Thai)](https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/sor9_2568_691681e702a9d.pdf) | Board of Investment of Thailand | 2025-11-14 | https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/sor9_2568_691681e702a9d.pdf |
| [2025 BOI Investment Promotion Guide (English)](https://osos.boi.go.th/download/BOI_PDF/BOI_A_Guide2025_EN.pdf) | Board of Investment of Thailand | 2025-01 | https://osos.boi.go.th/download/BOI_PDF/BOI_A_Guide2025_EN.pdf |
| [BOI Notification Por 8/2568 — Foreign-Position Approval, Recruitment and Term-Extension Standards (Chinese)](https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/por8_2568CH.pdf) | Board of Investment of Thailand | 2025-06-05 | https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/por8_2568CH.pdf |

## Lexcelsiam Note

This article addresses BOI Notification Sor. 9/2568, BOI Notification Por 8/2568 and the 2025 BOI Investment Promotion Guide as the Thai-law instruments relevant to a data-center promotion application under activity codes 8.2.1.1 and 8.2.1.2. Lexcelsiam is licensed and regulated in Thailand. Questions of law outside Thai law — including the home-jurisdiction tax, exchange-control or outbound-investment treatment of a Chinese-controlled investor — are outside the scope of this analysis and require local counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.