Thailand conjures images of idyllic beaches, elephant sanctuaries, and bustling street markets; but often overlooked is its dynamic technology ecosystem.
Innovation and connectivity are driving growth in this market, yet its many complexities deserve our close inspection. So let’s have a closer look. This blog will show you about the new digital technology in Thailand
Bangkok’s Digital Pulse
Two young Thai engineers living abroad may soon make waves in the global digital economy. Aukrit Unahalekhaka, 32, and Varayuth Yenbamroong, 37, founded respective startup companies with global aspirational goals. Their solutions utilize big data, AI, and machine learning technologies to revolutionize some of the world’s most lucrative industries – from agriculture and mining to financial services. Furthermore, their investments have come from major digital and tech industry giants around the world. Switch of the US, Bosch of Germany, and NTT Global Data Centers from Japan are among the companies taking advantage of BOI incentives like multi-year tax holidays, import duty exemptions, and expedited visa applications for key talent.
Thailand has an enormous digital opportunity; fully exploiting it could generate up to THB2.5 trillion annually in economic value – equivalent to over 16 percent of GDP by 2020.
To realize its full potential, however, many barriers must first be removed – this includes lowering barriers to digital adoption among businesses and improving access to the Internet in rural communities as well as raising digital literacy levels. While these challenges may seem insurmountable at first, they’re already being addressed through initiatives like Prudential Thailand’s Pulse app that connects users directly with doctors for online consultations or telemedicine services.
Thailand’s Rural Digital Landscape
Bangkok and its vibrant streets showcase tech-driven economic development, but rural Thailand presents a stark contrast. Internet access and digital literacy levels lag significantly behind urban centers compared to rural Thailand – this gap has significant socioeconomic ramifications across agriculture, healthcare and education sectors.
Entrepreneurs are finding solutions to bridge this divide through technology-enabled solutions for development and inclusion. Aukrit Nakhonyat co-founded Ricult to develop agricultural digital technologies based on big data and machine learning that empower farmers to make better decisions, while Varayuth Sutavansin founded mu Space to build a cloud hub in Thailand and launch low earth orbit satellites.
Other entrepreneurs are creating technology to enhance online safety, security, and convenience. E-wallets and DeFI allow payment transactions without traditional credit needs while biometrics and e-KYC speed up identity verification for online purchases while Skooldio and OpenDurian provide access to university courses for millions of rural residents.
Furthermore, the government’s Smart City Initiative is helping cities become digital hubs with smart infrastructure. 5G deployment will bring ultrafast connectivity for IoT and autonomous vehicles while AI enhancement enables process automation, predictive analytics, and personalized service delivery. All these initiatives are driving forward a digital economy that supports growth of software products as well as hardware products as well as e-commerce and digital service providers.
Thailand’s Startup Ecosystem
Recently, several startups in Thailand have emerged to the public eye and even passed one million users, showing its immense potential. Key factors driving their rapid expansion include economic resilience, digital adoption, large talent pool, and government and private sector support.
However, it should be remembered that Thailand’s startup ecosystem remains relatively small when compared to others in its region and therefore faces several hurdles such as limited funding sources and regulations that inhibit new technology development.
The Thai startup ecosystem has made significant strides over time despite these hurdles, emerging into an important regional player. Thailand boasts a strong digital infrastructure and an established e-commerce market; furthermore, its resilient economy and political stability provide a positive environment for entrepreneurs.
Tech startups can take advantage of these advantages to develop innovative solutions to local problems as well as international ones, which could help enhance a country’s global competitiveness and enhance socioeconomic welfare.
Thai startups also benefit from an ecosystem filled with incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces and networking events that foster collaboration and knowledge sharing between entrepreneurs. Access to such resources may help startups access funding from venture capital firms or angel investors as well as accessing venture capital funds or angel investors for expansion purposes. Furthermore, government authorities have recently been taking steps to simplify regulations and remove bureaucratic barriers so as to promote startup growth.
Thailand’s 5G Ecosystem
Thailand stands as the global 5G market and stands to take full advantage of digital transformation and Industry 4.0 initiatives. Thailand’s three telcos AIS, TrueMove, and dtac have already begun testing 5G technologies and applications.
Dtac’s 5G-powered smart store technology utilizes data analytics to enable more informed retail decision-making. They have also introduced a digital cow platform which monitors livestock behaviour, makes accurate predictions, and ensures productivity optimization while simultaneously helping reduce animal feed costs and improving milk quality by tracking cattle health status.
Tech giant Huawei believes 5G could play a vital role in helping to kick-start economic recovery by opening up new applications and services. Huawei expects its ultra-fast network will spark expansion across various industries ranging from industrial connectivity with IoT devices to retail, mobile internet and the business-to-business sector.
AIS is also moving swiftly with their 5G development, striving to provide seamless integration between physical and virtual experiences for its customers. Partnered with ZTE to accelerate digitalisation of enterprises by offering them tailored 5G use cases that support Thailand’s Industry 4.0 vision, this partnership will focus on five sectors.