Jobs at Thailand's PCB plants in 2026: employment by plant and province

Key points

• The Thai PCB plants that publish a headcount employ about 32,700 people, and announced projects add more than 10,600 Thai jobs.^[1][2][3]
• The largest additions are the second phase of three BOI projects (Compeq, Multi-Fineline Electronics and Gold Circuit Electronics, more than 5,000 additional Thai staff) and Peng Shen Technology's four projects in Prachin Buri (more than 5,600 Thai jobs expected).^[1][2]
• The plants are located in ten provinces, from Prachin Buri and Ayutthaya to Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan and the Eastern Seaboard. The legal minimum daily wage in these provinces ranges from 348 to 400 baht.^[5]
• New plants hire engineers and supervisors first: one plant under construction in Pathum Thani advertised 36 such roles before opening.^[9]
• Vacancies are listed free of charge on the plants' own pages and the Department of Employment's platform, and international fair-recruitment principles hold that workers pay no fee to be hired.^[8][7]

Background

In the MPBxChange register, 28 of the 39 Thai PCB plants that publish a founding year were registered in 2022 or later. Many are now built or ramping up, and staffing the lines has become the next stage after investment. The plants are among the largest new industrial employers in their provinces, and a plant's hiring indicates how far its ramp-up has progressed.

Headcounts are as published by the companies and the Thai government; wage figures are the statutory minimum by province.

Employment by plant

The MPBxChange register of plants lists 39 bare-board plants in Thailand. Twelve publish a headcount on their own pages, in filings or through the Board of Investment (BOI). Group figures are shown as published.

Notes: The Apex figure covers Apex Circuit (Thailand) and Shye Feng.^[3] The BOI figure covers Compeq, Multi-Fineline Electronics and Gold Circuit Electronics together.^[1] Current employment: 7,000 + 9,000 + 8,000 + 4,171 + 3,000 + 700 + 500 + 200 + 140 = 32,711, or about 32,700, for the twelve plants that publish a headcount, at the dates shown; the industry total is higher. Announced additions: 5,000 + 5,600, or more than 10,600 Thai jobs.

Headcount also varies with product mix. KCE Electronics, the only Thai-listed board maker, reported 5,027 employees in 2023, 4,643 in 2024 and 4,171 in 2025.^[10]

Employment by province

The plants are located in industrial estates along two corridors: north and east of Bangkok (Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, Prachin Buri) and south and east towards the coast (Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Chon Buri, Chachoengsao, Rayong). Ang Thong has one new plant.

The legal minimum daily wage varies by province. The current rates took effect on 1 July 2025 and remained in force in September 2026.^[5]

A day under the rule is normal working hours, at most eight (seven for hazardous work).^[5] The minimum applies to every employer; plants set pay above it by role and shift and state it in their job advertisements.

A map of every plant and its estate is in who owns Thailand's PCB plants.

Roles and hiring sequence

A board plant employs operators on the lines, technicians for plating, imaging and drilling, and engineers for process, equipment and quality. New plants hire engineers first, to install and qualify the lines before volume production.

Advanced Interconnection Technology (AITC), the joint venture of SVI and China Circuit Technology at Bangkadi Industrial Park in Pathum Thani, illustrates the sequence. In February 2026, before the plant opened, it advertised 36 roles: four senior production supervisors, ten process engineers, fifteen equipment maintenance engineers, two improvement engineers, three new-product engineers and two planning engineers.^[9]

Plants are also working with universities. Peng Shen Technology announced partnerships with King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Kasetsart University, the National Institute of Development Administration and the Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology to develop science and engineering courses.^[2]

Foreign experts

Many plants are new subsidiaries of companies from Taiwan, mainland China and Japan, which bring experienced engineers to start the lines. A BOI-promoted company applies to the BOI for approval of each foreign expert's position and its duration. Visas and work permits are then issued at the One-Stop Service Center for Visas and Work Permits, on the 18th floor of Chamchuri Square in Bangkok. An urgent temporary permit of up to 30 days can be approved within three hours.^[6]

BOI announcements report Thai staff separately; the more than 7,000 and 5,000 positions in the three projects above are Thai jobs.^[1]

Applying for work

• Applications go through the plant's own careers page or its listing on the Department of Employment's free platform, ไทยมีงานทำ (ไทยมีงานทำ.doe.go.th and its app). Its hotlines are 1506, then 2, and 1694.^[8]
• Recruitment is free to the worker. The International Labour Organization's fair-recruitment principles state that workers shall not be charged, directly or indirectly, any fees or related costs for their recruitment.^[7]
• The employer's full company name can be checked against the plant list in the MPBxChange register.

Outlook

Hiring indicates a plant's stage of development. A plant still advertising process and equipment engineers is qualifying its lines; one hiring operators by the hundred is moving into volume production. The engineers now being trained in Prachin Buri, Ayutthaya and the Eastern Seaboard will be the counterparts of buyers' quality teams. Provinces that host several plants draw on a shared pool of engineers and technicians, and the university partnerships above are one means of expanding it.