Thailand must develop its own Thai-language AI systems or risk falling behind foreign technology companies, economists and digital policy experts have warned.
Their concerns represent a broader challenge facing many middle-income economies: while governments have invested heavily in digital infrastructure over the past decade, the emergence of generative AI has fundamentally reshaped the digital economy faster than policymakers anticipated.
Countries that fail to adapt risk becoming consumers rather than creators of AI technologies, with long-term implications for productivity, education and economic sovereignty.
Economist and former deputy education minister Varakorn Samkoses said Thailand has never lacked comprehensive policy frameworks. The country's weakness lies in turning those plans into action.
Mr Varakorn said successive governments have produced detailed digital economy strategies, but implementation has been undermined by fragmented bureaucratic responsibilities, political interests and the absence of systematic reviews of past policy successes and failures.
Thailand's digital infrastructure itself is relatively strong. Broadband coverage is extensive, mobile internet speeds are competitive by regional standards, and government platforms such as the "Tang Rat" super-app have attracted roughly 30 million users.
However, the arrival of generative AI over the past two years has dramatically altered digital priorities.
"AI has emerged so rapidly that the entire digital landscape has changed," Mr Varakorn said. "Everyone is now focusing almost exclusively on AI."
Stalled AI action
Thailand approved its National Artificial Intelligence Action Plan in 2022, based largely on work completed before ChatGPT and other generative AI systems transformed global markets.
The government later established a National AI Committee chaired by the prime minister in early 2024.
Yet Mr Varakorn says the committee met only once under the previous administration before its activities stalled.
The interruption was compounded by controversy surrounding the government's TH-AI Passport initiative, which has been contentious and delayed broader AI policy implementation.
As a result, Thailand now encounters an institutional problem.
AI responsibilities remain scattered across multiple agencies, including the Prime Minister's Office, the Digital Economy and Society (DE) Ministry, the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
Despite efforts by the DE to centralise AI governance, no subsequent prime minister has reconvened the National AI Committee in 2026.
"The strategy itself was well prepared," Mr Varakorn said. "But after only two years it has shown itself to be outdated because AI has evolved much faster than policymakers expected."
Thailand's original AI strategy focused on five pillars: creating legal and ethical frameworks, standardising digital infrastructure, developing AI talent, supporting technological innovation, and promoting AI adoption in both government and business.
But Mr Varakorn argues that the plan underestimated how quickly generative AI would reshape global competition.
The world's largest AI companies are already entering schools across developing countries, offering free educational tools that familiarise students with proprietary AI ecosystems from an early age.
Thailand cannot realistically prevent foreign AI companies from entering its market, he acknowledged.
Instead, policymakers should focus on maximising the benefits. Domestic capabilities must also be developed alongside imported technologies.
The priority, he said, should be investing in Thai-language large language models.
Such systems would enable businesses, government agencies and citizens to interact with AI naturally in Thai while preserving local linguistic and cultural contexts that global AI models may overlook.
"We cannot avoid using foreign technology," Mr Varakorn said.
"The answer is transparent cooperation with international companies while building AI infrastructure that serves Thailand's long-term national interests."
Digital opportunities, risks
The debate extends beyond industrial policy into education and youth development.
Thanakorn Srisuksai, manager of Thai Media Fund, said new research conducted with private-sector partners shows that Thai youth are among the country's most intensive social media users.
While digital platforms offer important educational benefits, they also expose young users to significant psychological and social risks.
Research found that students preparing for university entrance examinations rely on TikTok and YouTube to exchange study advice, share education resources and support one another through peer-to-peer learning.
Online fandom communities likewise provide key spaces for social interaction among teenagers.
However, researchers also found evidence of growing algorithm-driven "echo chambers", where recommendation systems reinforce similar content, potentially encouraging excessive gaming, compulsive content consumption and increasingly polarised online behaviour.
Previous studies cited by the fund suggest heavy social media use is associated with higher risks of anxiety, depression and other mental health problems among young people.
Another notable finding is Thai teenagers place greater trust in online influencers than in government agencies or traditional news media, particularly through TikTok and Instagram.
While countries including France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Singapore and Indonesia have introduced various measures to regulate children's smartphone or social media use, Thailand has yet to establish comparable safeguards.
France has banned mobile phones in schools for younger students since 2018.
Australia is implementing age-verification requirements for social media, while Singapore maintains one of Asia's most comprehensive digital regulatory frameworks.
Thailand's regulatory structure, by contrast, remains fragmented.
Existing laws governing online platforms -- including the Computer Crime Act and platform registration regulations -- were drafted before today's AI-powered digital ecosystem emerged.
Mr Thanakorn argues Thailand requires a comprehensive overhaul of its digital legislation.
New laws should require global technology platforms to pay taxes on revenue generated within the country while assuming greater responsibility for illegal or harmful content distributed through their services, rather than placing the legal burden primarily on individual users.
Mr Thanakorn also called for the government to establish national digital learning platforms that provide high-quality education content and create trusted public digital infrastructure that is accessible to students, educators and content creators.
