Thailand Targets Enhanced Digital Competitiveness by 2026
Focus on Cloud, AI, and Educational Initiatives
Thailand is setting ambitious goals to enhance its digital competitiveness, aiming to secure a top 30 position in the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking by 2026.
Currently ranked 37th among 67 economies, the country plans to improve its standing through a series of initiatives.
Wisit Wisitsora-At, the Digital Economy and Society (DES) permanent secretary, emphasized the importance of policies such as the cloud-first scheme, AI regulations, and the widespread distribution of tablets to students.
The cloud-first policy has received increased budget allocations, focusing on digitizing state agency back offices.
Thailand has 40 million digital ID users, supported by the Tang Rat app, which offers expanding e-government services.
About 200,000 of nearly 1 million state officials now operate paperlessly, highlighting progress in governmental digitization.
In the realm of education, the cabinet approved a 22.1 billion baht budget for phase 2 of the 'Anywhere, Anytime Learning Promotion' project, which will run from 2025 to 2029 and supply tablets to 29,312 schools nationwide.
Additionally, Thailand aims to advance its AI landscape with more sustainable policies, fostering AI application development and promoting Thai large language models.
The DES Ministry seeks to develop a 'Learn to Earn' platform catering to over 20 million users, fostering skill enhancement and lifelong learning.
While Thailand's digital competitiveness ranking faced challenges, such as an eight-spot decline in technology factors, efforts are underway to address these issues.
Challenges include the number of AI policies passed and secure internet server rankings, which dropped to 39th and 48th, respectively.
However, the country saw slight improvements in knowledge and future readiness indicators, positioning them at 40th and 41st.