Pheu Thai will increase the digital workforce by 500% in 4 years, its leader tells forum
The opposition Pheu Thai Party will increase the number of people working in the digital economy fivefold in four years as part of its effort to transform Thailand’s economy, its leader, Chonlanan Srikaew, told a forum in Bangkok on Wednesday.
Thailand will not be able to keep pace with the emerging digital economy if the country lacks skilled workers, Chonlanan explained. As a result, Pheu Thai “aims to increase digital economy personnel from 400,000 people to 2 million people in the next four years", he said.
Chonlanan was one of several party leaders speaking at "Next Step Thailand 2023", which was organised by Nation Group news outlets Spring News, Nation TV and Post Today.
The Pheu Thai leader said his party would also increase digital literacy, encourage the usage of digital wallets, open a digital data centre, and draw more digital nomads to Thailand.
Chart Pattana Kla Party leader Korn Chatikavanij told the forum that people are already part of the next step world.
He pointed to the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT and noted that it had attracted 1 million users within five days of its launch on November 30.
"The AI chatbot took a shorter period to attract people than Facebook and Instagram," he said, adding that Facebook and Instagram attracted 1 million users within 10 and five months, respectively.
He said ChatGPT can answer questions on the level of a university thesis and users do not have to input data into it.
"It makes me worry about the future of education [and] test cheating," he said.
Korn said there was also a downside to the digital transformation. He noted that people have suffered from social conflict and fake news since the emergence of social media.
To develop Thailand's digital economy, Korn said the government must change its mindset to make its operations more transparent. This will also enable the government to reduce its operational costs, he added.
"Thailand’s level of innovation is not inferior to other countries,” Korn said, noting that the Paotang application has attracted 34 million users.
Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat put the value of Thailand's digital economy at 1.2 trillion baht, with annual growth of 15%. However, despite its size and rapid growth, Thailand's digital economy is still falling short, he said.
"Thailand's digital economy was ranked 6th among Asean countries," Pita said, blaming low investment from the government for its poor standing in the region.
Pita said three major initiatives were required to promote Thailand as a digital market in Asean. First, a digital strategy must be launched. Second, laws and regulations need to be amended. Third, infrastructure needs to be upgraded.
Thai Sang Thai Party leader Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan said determined leaders were necessary to promote Thailand's digital economy.
She also outlined her vision to develop Thailand's digital economy by 2027 as follows:
Creating awareness of digital literacy among workers and students.
Boosting people's authority and Thailand's competitiveness, such as amending Food and Drug Administration's regulations, setting up a digital government and creating digital token.
Digitising Thailand to cope with various crises, such as adopting the Bio-Circular-Green economy model, using solar cells, promoting the use of electric vehicles and developing a carbon credit mechanism.
Democrat Party leader Jurin Laksanawisit said the digital economy is crucial for increasing competitiveness and gross domestic product.
He said Thailand was 40th of 63 countries on a world digital competitiveness ranking this year, citing International Institute for Management Development data.
"Thailand's technology was ranked 20th among 63 countries," he said, "However, Thailand's knowledge and readiness were ranked 45th and 49th, respectively."
He said Thailand should develop personnel, laws, and technologies to promote the digital economy.
"Most importantly, Thailand should be ready for global rules related to the digital economy," he said, adding that these rules would be issued soon.
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