Thailand is positioning itself as a regional artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse by prioritising the development of small language models (SLMs) to serve specific sectors and expand the use of AI applications across industries.

It will also stimulate AI demand through public procurement of AI projects worth at least 2 billion baht.

The country is laying the groundwork for comprehensive AI regulations and governance frameworks to ensure responsible and sustainable adoption.

“Thailand must actively compete in the global AI race by building its own capabilities, rather than relying solely on foreign technologies,” Sak Segkhoonthod, senior advisor at the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), said during the “AI Strategy Thailand: Where Do We Stand in the World?” seminar held yesterday as part of Bangkok AI Week 2025, which will run until Friday.

He emphasised the urgency for Thailand to define its role in the global AI landscape. While Thailand is not yet a global tech leader, the nation was ranked seventh out of 125 economies worldwide for momentum in digital economic growth in the 2025 Digital Evolution Index.

This demonstrates that, with the right strategic approach, Thailand is well-positioned to emerge as a regional AI powerhouse, Mr Sak added.

The Digital Economy and Society Ministry has established a two-pronged strategy for AI development in Thailand: AI Readiness and AI Adoption.

AI Readiness focuses on building foundational infrastructure and talent development. Over the next two years, Thailand is aiming for the development of over 10 million AI users, at least 90,000 AI professionals, and a minimum of 50,000 AI developers.

The government will invest at least 6 billion baht in talent development.

For AI infrastructure, the government will encourage investment in cloud data centres, which is expected to attract investment worth 500 billion baht.

This includes development of open source AI infrastructure and the National Data Bank, with a government budget of 2 billion baht.

The AI Adoption dimension aims to drive tangible AI integration across key national sectors, namely healthcare, tourism, agriculture and the public sector.

In July, the ETDA will seek cabinet approval to endorse AI governance across all public agencies.

The agency also plans to provide training on AI governance to support the deployment of AI projects through the AI Governance Practice Center (AIGPC), which will be soft launched in October.

Mr Sak said the government also needs to use the public sector to drive demand for AI by setting up government procurement in AI projects worth at least 2 billion baht.
This could be supported by the 4-billion-baht DE fund.

Dr Piyalitt Ittichaiwong, instructor at SiData+ Center, Siriraj Hospital and a medical startup, said Thailand’s medical AI sector can compete with those of Singapore and Vietnam.

“We have talented experts and great physicians but need to create a market for medical tech and give funding to those medtech startups to keep talent in the country,” he said.

Dr Piyalitt emphasised that AI has become a strategic global race, particularly between the US and China, as both nations are accelerating their efforts to develop Artificial General Intelligence, which is expected to emerge early next year.

Thailand should focus on customising a small language model that can be applied for conducting business and AI-based applications.

“Our own startups’ use of SLMs help save computing costs when providing our services,” said Dr Piyalitt.

Pochara Arayakarnkul, chief executive of Bluebik Group Public Co Ltd, said AI represents Thailand’s path to survival.

In the AI value chain, it may be difficult for Thailand to compete directly with global tech giants in developing foundation models.

The country can strategically leverage open-source models and build localised expertise in customising small language models in key areas, such as Thai language and culture, genetic data for precision medicine, and AI-driven credit risk scoring.

Credit: Bangkokpost.com

Set Your Calendar!

DigiTech ASEAN Thailand and AI Connect 2025 will take place at Hall 7 and Hall 8, IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Centre, Bangkok, Thailand from 19^th to 21^st November 2025.