Tencent Thailand, the local operating unit of the fourth-largest internet firm, is jumping into cloud computing services in 2018, diversifying its revenue sources from data centres here.
The move will spur fiercer competition, as Alibaba wants to expand its cloud service in Thailand as well.
"Thailand is one of five countries where we plan to expand Tencent cloud service overseas by building our own data centres locally as part of the company's strategic growth," said Krittee Manoleehagul, managing director of Tencent Thailand.
The Chinese company is in the process of constructing a local data centre to reduce network latency and achieve compliance with local regulations, he said, as some sectors are required to store data locally.
Tencent expects to operate its local data centre by the first half of 2018, as its local customers use the service in China now.
The company foresees opportunities in cloud services, in particular Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), because of the rise of digital content such as live streaming and video-on-demand.
Mr Krittee said the company has already expanded into the digital marketing business for those brands that would like to acquire more Chinese customers, especially Chinese tourists in Thailand who are expected to reach 10 million this year.
"Thailand, especially Bangkok and Phuket, is a top Chinese tourist destination," he said. "Chinese tourists prefer to buy snacks and cosmetics here. Brands can do marketing to attract potential buyers via the Tencent platform."
Tencent Social Ads is the company's advertising network and can reach more than 95% of Chinese citizens, while other foreign social media are banned in China. Some 56% of China's daily internet traffic sees Tencent products.
"The Tencent official account can reach 980 million WeChat users around the world," Mr Krittee said. Of those WeChat users, some 85% have an active WeChat Wallet and 80% follow the official account.
Thai brands can communicate with their target market and engage them through discount coupons before Chinese arrive in Thailand and pay for goods via WeChat Wallet. They can also provide information about shop locations.
Mr Krittee said the Thai tourism sector in 2016 generated 2.6 trillion baht, contributing 20% of GDP. Of total revenue, 20% was from Chinese tourists.
