Anutin says Japanese firms will keep investing in Thailand

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says Japanese companies will continue to invest in Thailand, dismissing reports that manufacturers are preparing to move all production out of the country.

Speaking in Tokyo on Monday, September 21, Anutin said Japan's ambassador to Thailand had rejected the claim during an earlier discussion. Japanese investment may have slowed or changed in nature, he said, but this reflected Thailand's changing economy rather than a wholesale withdrawal.

He addressed a meeting of "Team Thailand" at the Imperial Hotel ahead of travelling on to New York for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. The group included Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun, Foreign Ministry officials, Thailand's ambassador to Japan and Thai consuls-general in Osaka and Fukuoka.

Investment is changing, not disappearing

Anutin described Thailand and Japan as close partners, while acknowledging that Japanese investment may no longer be at the level seen in previous decades.

Thailand had expanded its capabilities and was less dependent on Japan in several fields, he said, including through domestic production of some raw materials that were previously imported.

He pointed to the shift in the motor industry from internal-combustion engines to electric vehicles, where competition - particularly from Chinese manufacturers - has increased. Anutin also said Thailand's trade deficit with Japan had dropped from tens of billions of baht to about THB6 billion, without specifying the periods compared.

Clean energy and crime are shared priorities

Japan's focus on clean-energy industries matched Thailand's own energy-transition plans, Anutin said. He cited the 2026 emergency decree allowing the Finance Ministry to borrow funds to address the energy crisis and support the transition.

Thailand's energy supply remained secure, he said, although oil prices needed close monitoring.

The prime minister also named the fight against scam networks as an area for Thai-Japanese cooperation. He said suspicious financial transactions were now harder to carry out in Thailand and maintained that the country's transaction-monitoring standards were credible.

Anutin said more than THB20 billion in assets had been seized from scam networks during three months under his previous government and seven months under the current administration. He insisted that no Cabinet member had links to grey businesses or illegal enterprises.

Ratings and stability cited to investors

The government was improving its standards and enforcement measures, Anutin said, pointing to Thailand's credit outlook moving from negative to stable.

According to a government announcement on September 19, Fitch Ratings revised Thailand's outlook to stable while affirming its BBB+ sovereign rating, effective September 18. The government said Fitch, S&P and Moody's all now assigned Thailand a stable outlook.

"The government is highly stable, both in terms of parliamentary support and relations among coalition parties. The civil service and the armed forces are also working well together," Anutin said.

He also acknowledged concerns over Thai nationals overstaying in Japan, saying Thailand would cooperate with Japanese authorities. He had instructed the Royal Thai Police to take further action, he added.

Picture courtesy of The Nation

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22 September 2026