How Thailand is Building Tomorrow’s AI Economy with Critical Digital Infrastructure

Artificial intelligence is reshaping economies across ASEAN, redefining how nations compete and grow. For Thailand, the defining factor of whether we emerge as a leader—or remain a follower—in this new era is not low-cost labour, but the strength of our digital infrastructure foundations.
 

We stand at a pivotal moment. The AI economy is expected to transform every sector—from financial services and smart cities to education, healthcare, and manufacturing. According to Statista Market Insights, Thailand’s AI market is forecast to reach US$1.16 billion in 2025, with an annual growth rate of 26.24% through 2031. Yet beyond these figures lies a deeper truth: the shift from computing as basic support infrastructure to computing as a strategic competitive advantage.

 

Competing for ASEAN Leadership

Across Southeast Asia, the race for AI leadership is intensifying. Singapore has emerged as the undisputed powerhouse, investing over S$1.6 billion in government programmes and attracting US$26 billion in tech giant investments to establish itself as a global AI hub. Malaysia is advancing its National AI Roadmap 2021–2025 with ambitions to become one of the world’s top 20 AI economies by 2030. Vietnam, meanwhile, is accelerating digital innovation through its National Digital Transformation Program, positioning itself as a global hub for e-commerce, fintech, and AI-driven solutions.
 

The nation that builds the most advanced, accessible, and sustainable AI infrastructure ecosystem will shape not only the regional technology landscape, but also long-term economic independence and influence.
 

Infrastructure as Competitive Advantage

For Thailand, the economic imperative is clear. With an ageing population and a shrinking workforce, competing on labour cost is no longer sustainable. Instead, AI-enabled productivity advantages—powered by world-class digital infrastructure—must define our competitiveness.
 

The National AI Committee has set ambitious goals: training 10 million AI users, 90,000 AI professionals, and 50,000 AI developers within the next two years. But achieving these targets requires production-grade infrastructure that can support large-scale AI applications—not just pilot projects.
 

AI’s infrastructure demands are unprecedented. Traditional data centres designed for predictable workloads cannot meet the exponential computational power, real-time processing, and rapid scalability that AI requires. Future applications—from autonomous business agents and quantum-enhanced AI to robotics—are expected within the next 3–5 years. Countries investing in infrastructure readiness today will capture outsized economic value tomorrow.
 

Private Sector’s Role in National Competitiveness

Thailand’s government has recognised AI’s strategic importance through initiatives such as the National AI Strategy and university partnerships to develop local talent. Yet government policy alone cannot deliver the platforms needed to establish Thailand as ASEAN’s AI hub.
 

The private sector must play a leading role by building digital infrastructure that complements public initiatives, integrates seamlessly with national strategies, and creates platforms that make advanced AI capabilities accessible to enterprises of all sizes.
 

At STT GDC, we see this transformation unfolding across industries—from BFSI and healthcare to manufacturing and smart cities. Our global platform of more than 100 data centres across 12 markets shows us that infrastructure readiness directly correlates with economic opportunity. Singapore’s early investments now attract the region’s top AI startups; Vietnam’s push into digital infrastructure is enabling AI-driven productivity gains across traditional industries. Thailand cannot afford to lag. We must become an AI exporter, not just an importer, before this competitive window closes.
 

Building Thailand as Southeast Asia’s AI Platform

Thailand has the geographic position, economic stability, and industrial base to establish itself as Southeast Asia’s AI platform. But this requires world-class infrastructure capable of attracting regional and global enterprises to set up their AI operations here.
 

Every AI application—from precision agriculture to fintech platforms, from autonomous logistics to smart urban systems—demands computational power unimaginable just five years ago. The infrastructure we build today will determine whether Thailand captures the value of these innovations or relies on importing capabilities built abroad.
 

The choice before us is clear: either build the foundations for AI leadership now, or risk missing the opportunity to lead ASEAN’s next economic era.

This article was published in Bangkok Biz News on October 01, 2025.