poultry industry in Thailand

Hello everyone,

I've been researching the poultry industry in Thailand and found several discussions on this forum, but most of them date back to around 2018. Since the industry has evolved quite a bit over the last few years, I was hoping to get some updated insights from people who are currently involved in commercial broiler farming.

My goal is to start a contract broiler farm in Thailand with an integrator (companies like CPF, Betagro, Panus Poultry, Thai Foods Group, GFPT, etc.), initially with around 15,000 birds per cycle and hopefully expanding over time.

I'd really appreciate any information on how the industry looks in 2026, particularly regarding:

Has contract farming become more or less profitable compared to 2018?

Which integrators are currently considered the best to work with?

What are the typical payment structures today? (per kg, performance bonus, FCR, mortality, etc.)

What is the average profit per flock or per house in 2026?

Have biosecurity or welfare requirements become significantly stricter?

Is it still relatively easy to obtain a contract with an integrator, or is the market saturated?

What are the biggest challenges today (feed costs, electricity, labor, disease control, financing, etc.)?

If you were starting from scratch today, is there anything you would do differently?

I've read that large integrated companies now dominate most of Thailand's broiler production, with many independent growers operating under contract farming rather than producing independently. At the same time, I've also seen reports suggesting margins have become tighter due to higher operating costs, even though production remains stable.

I'm interested in hearing from people with real, hands-on experience rather than sales representatives or consultants.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience. Any advice, numbers, or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated