Thailand's ambition to become a regional digital hub has raised a central policy question

Thailand's ambition to become a regional digital hub has raised a central policy question: whether to prioritise expanding public access to artificial intelligence or build the foundations to develop it.

The debate has intensified as countries compete in the emerging AI economy. Thailand has attracted major data centre investment and expanded digital initiatives, but policymakers and economists remain divided over whether it is building long-term capability.

At the centre is the government's proposed TH-AI Passport programme, a 1.6-billion-baht scheme designed to provide free access to advanced AI tools for five million users for one year. Supporters describe it as a tool to broaden access to technology. Critics argue it risks becoming a short-term subsidy without strengthening domestic innovation.

Digital edge

Karndee Liewpairoj, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, said Thailand has structural advantages in the digital economy, including its location along key international data cable routes, improving telecommunications networks and a large domestic market that attracts digital investment.

However, she said investment alone is insufficient. "We should not only provide land, electricity and water," she said. "We should ask how these investments can create new industries and help SMEs grow."

She said that rather than funding generic, scattered applications, state tech investments should focus on "domain-specific" AI models tailored to Thailand's strongest industries -- specifically agriculture, tropical medicine, and tourism.

By building infrastructure around these target sectors, the state could foster an ecosystem that actively incorporates local startups.

Without this direction, she warned, the state's broader digital roadmap risks obsolescence, adding that existing frameworks drafted three years ago are already outdated in the fast-moving AI landscape.

Tech dependency

Ms Karndee compared the TH-AI Passport programme to short-term relief rather than long-term capacity building, as it reinforces a loop where Thailand remains a tech buyer instead of a builder.

Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech, an MP of Pheu Thai and a member of the House Committee on Monetary Affairs, Finance, Financial Institutions, and Financial Market, shared this concern.

He said successive governments have repeatedly prioritised purchasing foreign technology over developing domestic innovation. "We should be creating, not buying," he said.

Mr Suchart said true digital development must focus on the supply side by allocating budgets to train the younger generation in fundamental programming and software engineering. Without building a domestic manufacturing base for technology, he warned, local developers will have no market to sell to, and much of the digital economy's value will continue to flow overseas.

Systems gap

Ms Karndee said current enthusiasm for AI echoes earlier technology rollouts, when government agencies rushed to launch standalone mobile applications with limited coordination.

Many were later abandoned due to low usage. A similar pattern is emerging today, she said, as individual ministries chase isolated AI projects despite the availability of open-source models that could cut costs.

Early tech education, she said, should not rush young children onto automated AI tools, but double down on cognitive fundamentals like critical and analytical thinking.

In schools, AI should serve behind the scenes as a tool for teachers to personalise student evaluations and workloads.

She also pointed to persistent reliance on paper-based workflows in government offices, despite years of digital reform to paperless efforts.

Ms Karndee questioned how Thailand measures digital economic performance, highlighting growing payments for foreign digital services, including advertising, cloud computing and software subscriptions.

She said international platforms such as Meta and Google capture a big share of domestic digital spending, creating massive structural outflows that are not clearly reflected in traditional trade figures -- a blind spot that previously clouded trade deficit negotiations with US President Donald Trump.

The Democrat Party has advocated stronger digital governance through a Public Information Disclosure Bill that would require state agencies to release information in standardised, machine-readable formats.

The reforms would help break down data silos between agencies and improve transparency while enabling innovation.

Policy defence

The government rejects suggestions its digital strategy lacks substance. Siripong Angkasakulkiat, deputy transport minister and deputy leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, said digital transformation must be viewed from both the user and developer perspectives.

Defending the TH-AI Passport programme, he said public policy must address the widening digital divide.

While basic public tiers of generative AI exist, advanced commercial platforms in Thailand -- such as those run by major telecom operators like AIS and True -- cost between 299 to 699 baht per month.

"The programme will ensure students, entrepreneurs and small businesses can access the same advanced technologies as larger corporations without the barrier of steep subscription fees," he said.

He also cited earlier co-payment schemes, such as Khon La Khrueng Plus, as evidence of digital onboarding, saying many small merchants later expanded onto delivery platforms and online marketplaces, with some reporting sales increases of as much as 600%.

Growth limits

However, Pheu Thai's Mr Suchart said the debate over digital transformation risks focusing too heavily on technology deployment itself.

Faster services and new digital platforms are important, but they do not address the foundational constraints that have bottlenecked economic development for decades.

He identified corruption and market monopolies as the two biggest obstacles to long-term competitiveness, saying both continue to distort investment decisions and limit opportunities for new entrants.

State-backed monopolies dominate key utility and consumer sectors, including electricity, telecommunications, and wholesale and retail trade, he said.

Allowing the same market concentration to take hold in digital infrastructure would be dangerous. "Without greater competition, innovation may struggle regardless of how much money is invested in technology."

Future choice

Few dispute that Thailand's digital economy will continue growing, supported by its strategic location, improving infrastructure, and expanding adoption.

Yet the question remains whether growth will transform into domestic capability, determining whether Thailand develops as a genuine producer of digital value or remains structurally dependent on technologies developed elsewhere.

Karndee: Policy lacks direction

Suchart: Capacity needs building

Siripong: Many AI tools 'out of reach'