Beyond Bangkok: Investors Find Diversity in Thailand’s Smart Provincial Cities

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When Anucha Meekiatichaikun, a Thailand-born, Paris-trained entrepreneur, returned to his homeland to set up a high-tech dental device business, he looked beyond the bright lights of Bangkok to the historic walled city of Chiang Mai.

It proved to be a profitable decision. In Chiang Mai, an ancient center of arts and culture, Mr. Anucha found craftsmen with skills passed down over centuries who quickly adapted to the intricacies of making digital titanium implant bars and other prosthetic devices.

The business, Hexa Ceram Dental Laboratory, thrived, attracting investment from Curaeos, a pan-European dentistry platform with one million customers. Today, it employs 800 people and exports to the European Union, Japan, the U.S. and Thailand’s regional neighbors. “Chiang Mai has the skilled workforce, international airport and everything you need for your personal life,” Mr. Anucha says.

In one sense, Mr. Anucha’s experience is no different from that of other Thailand investors. Southeast Asia’s second largest economy has long been among the developing world’s most welcoming destinations for international companies, accumulating more than $222 billion in foreign direct investment, according to United Nations data. One favored location: the Eastern Economic Corridor, a booming area near Bangkok that Thailand wants to make the innovation hub of Asia. 

Where Mr. Anucha’s investment stands out is his decision to seize opportunities offered by Thailand’s many diverse regional investment hubs. Chiang Mai and cities such as Khon Kaen and Songkhla are vibrant provincial capitals offering well-respected universities, innovation-focused science parks and increasing connectivity to nearby international markets such as China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.