- Thai IT experts warn that many government AI projects risk repeating the failures of the “app fever” era, when billions of baht were spent on applications with little practical value.
- In the 2025 fiscal year, Thailand had 804 AI projects worth around 1.4 billion baht (approximately $38 million), while the 2026 fiscal year features 685 projects worth around 737 million baht (approximately $20 million).
- Member of Parliament Pawoot Pongvitayapanu suggested that AI is becoming the new “buzzword” helping state agencies easily request massive budgets.
- He warned that many conventional data management systems are being relabeled as “AI projects” to inflate the budget scale.
- The Thailand FishAI project, worth 9 million baht (approximately $245,000), was criticized for its low practical utility despite being able to identify around 50 fish species.
- The AI management system of the Department of Skill Development cost 74.5 million baht (approximately $2 million), sparking debates over whether the budget should be used for human resource training instead of technology.
- The TH-AI Passport project, worth 1.6 billion baht (approximately $43 million) aimed at providing AI to 5 million citizens, has been approved and a contractor has been selected.
- The Electronic Transactions Development Agency warned that AI could become the “new blockchain,” where everything is forced to carry an AI label.
- Some state agencies were caught uploading sensitive documents and citizen call recordings to public AIs for transcription or analysis, raising data leak risks.
- Thailand is developing a new AI procurement guideline because traditional procurement processes are unsuitable for technology that changes too rapidly.
- Experts demand that AI projects be evaluated based on actual efficiency rather than the number of features or technologies utilized.
- The AI Entrepreneur Association of Thailand suggested that AI contracts need to be flexible because AI products usually require continuous improvement after initial deployment.
- 📌 Conclusion: The AI wave in Thailand is accompanied by major anxieties regarding technology governance and public budget waste. Following the lesson of the “app graveyard” from years ago, experts warn that AI could become a new excuse to legitimize expensive projects that lack practical value. The current debate no longer revolves around “whether or not to use AI,” but around how to build procurement mechanisms, efficiency evaluations, and transparent oversight so that AI serves the citizens instead of turning into a costly tech trend.
