Pathum Thani
Thailand's R&D hub—Thailand Science Park (2002), Nawanakhon zone (200+ companies), 800 factories making chips and cars—all in Bangkok's flood-vulnerable floodplain.
Pathum Thani is where Thailand does R&D. Thailand Science Park—the country's first, managed by NSTDA since 2002—spreads across 80 acres here, housing wet labs, dry labs, heavy equipment facilities, and the researchers who use them. The park focuses on food science, life sciences, and electronics, incubating tech startups while hosting established multinationals. This isn't agriculture anymore; the province transitioned from rice paddies to industrial zones as the national economy industrialized.
Nawanakhon Industrial Zone exemplifies the shift: 10.5 square kilometers of land hosting over 200 innovation-oriented companies alongside commercial and residential development. Nava Nakorn Industrial Promotion Zone adds another 5.6 square kilometers. Bangkadi Industrial Park, Techno Thani, and clusters extending into neighboring Ayutthaya create a continuous manufacturing corridor. Over 800 factories in the greater Bangkok region—including Pathum Thani—produce telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, computer parts, and automotive components.
The industrial estates now pivot toward "smart parks" with full technological services and bio-circular-green (BCG) economy tenants. But flood risk shadows the technology investments: like neighboring Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani faces inundation warnings when Chao Phraya discharges spike. The 2011 floods devastated these industrial zones; the question isn't whether it will happen again but when. Pathum Thani concentrates Thailand's knowledge economy in the same floodplain that threatens its server rooms.