Purpose In southeast Asia, international companies are growing to serve customers with multiple faiths. This study aims to focus on Thailand and it is one of Southeast Asia’s nations and it has Muslim minority customers. To represent Thai Muslim companies, Thai Muslims are marketing their goods by bearing the tagline “we are Islamic”. Scholars described it as “Islamic brands”. This research describes the significant feature of Islamic brands between Thai Muslim people. It examines, which of the Islamic brand dimensions motivates Thai customers towards buying Islamic brands. Design/methodology/approach The current study’s conceptual model was the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and 281 Thai Muslims responded via a standardised survey. The data was collected from four southern Thailand provinces (Narathiwat, Pattani, Satun and Yala) and the statistical application Smart-partial least-squares 3 was used for data analysis. Findings The most significant factor motivating Thai Muslims towards purchasing Islamic brands is the customer’s Islamic brand. The second factor was the Islamic brands by compliance and Islamic brands by country of origin. Research limitations/implications Three regions in Thailand have been researched, as well as the results concentrate only on three Islamic brand attitudes as independent variables and the development of behavioural expectations of TPB. This research also presents a model that could help understand the consumer perceptions about Islamic brands and established brands amongst various consumers. Practical implications The present research applies to small companies and multi-national businesses, as it illuminates and recognises the image of Islamic brands and suggests the preferences of customers in selecting the brand of Islamic brand. Originality/value The current study aims to explain Thai Muslim customers’ buying behavioural intentions while purchasing Islamic brands in Thailand.