Frito-Lay received approval to import 30 tons of seven new potato varieties from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, The Netherlands, and the United States.
The potatoes will be planted in Chiang Mai and the harvest processed at Frito-Lay's production plant.
Thai Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob said it was not known if the potatoes would be free of genetically modified material.
"If we find later they're GMOs, a penalty will be imposed and the importer will be blacklisted," he said.