Bangkok Post
DES minister says building trust key to creating AI hub
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Thailand is betting on trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) to become an AI hub in Southeast Asia by placing governance, infrastructure and talent at the heart of its national strategy.
Key facts
- The digital economy is projected to expand 4.2% to more than 5.6 trillion baht in 2026, accounting for 29% of an estimated GDP of 19.3 trillion baht.
- Thailand is betting on trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) to become an AI hub in Southeast Asia by placing governance, infrastructure and talent at the heart of its national strategy.
- The country seeks to differentiate itself in the region's intensifying AI race where trust and not computing power is emerging as a key competitive advantage.
- Austin Zheng, deputy managing director of Huawei Thailand, said generative AI has rapidly shifted from experimentation to commercial deployment, with nearly 40% of enterprises already using AI to improve productivity and develop new
- China has emerged as a major force in global AI, with Chinese open-source models accounting for 46% of global token usage, while costing roughly 20 times less to operate than comparable US models.
- Mr Zheng said Thailand is well-positioned to become a regional AI hub, supported by favourable government policies, nationwide 5G population coverage of 95% and almost 1GW of new data centre capacity under development, making the country a
Summary
The country seeks to differentiate itself in the region's intensifying AI race where trust and not computing power is emerging as a key competitive advantage.
"AI's true value lies not in technological sophistication, but in the benefits it delivers to people and the trust it earns," Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaichanok Chidchob said in a video address to the Huawei Thailand Digital & AI Summit 2026 event on Thursday.