FDI Trends, Pull Factors and Policies in Thailand

The objective of the research is to investigate the pull factors that have impacted on FDI inflows in Thailand. It seeks to explain the decline of inward FDI in Thailand over recent years, in light of competition from inward FDI into Southeast Asia countries. The study uses empirical exploratory data analysis to examine the inward pull factor in Thailand compared to neighbouring countries in ASEAN which are: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, covering the period from 2004 to 2015. The main pull factors derived from the literature findings include: labour cost, infrastructure quality, institutions, FDI restrictions, and tax rates. The results of the research show that Thailand has lost competitiveness on labour cost, infrastructure quality, political stability, while FDI restrictions seems play some role in attracting FDI and it was not the case with tax rates.