New plan to boost Thais' AI awareness
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- Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) announced the TH‑AI Passport, a 1.6‑billion‑baht scheme to subsidise AI tool access for up to 5 million Thai citizens aged 15 and above.
- DES Minister Chaichanok Chidchob said the programme will be funded from the Digital Economy and Society Development Fund, allowing a bulk‑procurement price of roughly 27 baht per month per user, fully subsidised.
- Thai Large Language Model (ThaiLLM) will be developed alongside the passport, a joint effort by the Big Data Institute, the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre and Mahidol and Chulalongkorn universities, to create open‑source, Thai‑language AI.
- Thailand’s AI adoption rate is currently 10.7 % of the workforce, lagging behind the global average of 16.3 % and regional peers Vietnam (23.5 %) and Singapore (60.9 %), prompting the government to frame AI as a productivity‑boosting tool.
- The “Learn to Earn” framework links AI tool usage with structured training, targeting students, first‑job entrants, public servants and SMEs to improve digital skills and productivity.
Why it matters: 5 million Thai citizens and SMEs gain subsidised AI tools at ~27 baht/month, while the government invests 1.6 bn baht to accelerate AI diffusion, aiming to lift Thailand’s adoption rate from 10.7 % toward regional peers and boost productivity amid demographic slowdown.
