How long does a BOI application really take?
The BOI decides within 40 working days of a complete application for projects up to 200 million baht of investment, 60 working days up to 2,000 million, and 90 working days above that: roughly two to four and a half calendar months of review. The honest total is longer, because preparing the application comes before the clock starts and up to two months of acceptance and certificate paperwork come after it stops.
Last reviewed 19 October 2026
The published review clock
| Investment (excluding land and working capital) | Decided by | Review time |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 200 million baht | The BOI office | 40 working days |
| 200 to 2,000 million baht | A sub-committee | 60 working days |
| Over 2,000 million baht | Sub-committee, then the full Board, with a feasibility study required | 90 working days |
The whole sequence
- File through the BOI’s online e-Investment system.
- Within 10 working days you get an appointment with a BOI officer to present and clarify the project. This meeting, and the written case behind it, is where consultant fees actually go.
- The decision arrives per the table above, and you are notified within 7 working days of the meeting minutes being approved.
- Accept the promotion within 1 month of notification (extendable, one month at a time, up to three times).
- Within 6 months of accepting: the company must exist and the promotion certificate application goes in with the company documents (extendable by four months, up to three times). If the company is not yet registered, this window is when that happens.
- The certificate is issued within 10 working days of complete certificate paperwork.
Add it up and a well-prepared small project runs around three to five calendar months from deciding to apply to holding the certificate, with the single biggest variable being how long the application takes to make complete. The incentives themselves, and the deadlines that start ticking once the certificate exists, are covered in what promotion gets you and the conditions people forget.
Consultants quote the whole journey as one fee, typically 180,000 to 320,000 baht at the published end of the market (the evidence). Because the elapsed time is mostly fixed by the BOI’s own clocks, a firm promising a dramatically faster result is promising something it does not control; three quotes will show you quickly what a normal promise looks like.
Related questions
- BOI promotion after approval: which conditions do people forget?
- What does BOI promotion actually get you?
- How long does registering a Thai company really take, start to finish?
Sources
- Thailand.go.th official guide: BOI application procedure and working-day timelines
- Siam Legal: BOI procedure flow chart with review, notification and certificate timelines
This is general information about how a filing works, not accounting or tax advice for your company. Confirm anything that matters against the official notice or with your accountant. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.