Thailand’s digital economy started 2026 in a strong position. According to the National Board of Digital Economy and Society (BDE)’s forecast, the digital economy is expected to reach USD 171 billion (equivalent to THB 5.6 trillion) in 2026, representing a 4.2% growth. This momentum is reinforced by rising infrastructure investment, including Microsoft’s USD 1 billion commitment to invest in cloud and AI infrastructure over the next three years, and Google Cloud’s launch of a new cloud region as part of its previously announced USD 1 billion investment. At the same time, the Thailand Board of Investment approved seven new data centre and hosting projects with a combined value of approximately USD 3.1 billion (THB 96.88 billion).

Alongside these developments, Thailand is advancing its regulatory foundations. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society released Draft Principles of Artificial Intelligence Law for public consultation, marking further progress towards a unified national AI framework. Concurrently, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency unveiled a regulatory roadmap for digital platforms, structured around three core principles: practicable, verifiable, and shared responsibility.

Against this backdrop, on 19 March 2026, the Tech for Good Institute (TFGI) and Thailand’s Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO) convened a high-level roundtable in Bangkok on “Governing Frontier Technologies in Southeast Asia”. The session brought together government officials, industry leaders, and policy researchers to exchange perspectives on AI governance, data policy, and regional cooperation within Thailand’s context. It also marked the launch of the third edition of TFGI’s annual report, The Evolution of Tech Governance in Southeast Asia (2026), which examines how governance frameworks are evolving across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Moderators and Speakers

• Thaya Navanugraha, Acting Deputy Vice President, Department of Digital Intelligence Strategy and Policy, Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa)
• Apivadee Piyatumrong, Vice President, Industrial Promotion and Partnership, Big Data Institute (BDI)
• Poomsiri Dumrongvute, Vice Dean, Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University
• Dr Saliltorn Thongmeensuk, Senior Research Fellow, Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI)
• Jirawat Poomsrikaew, Executive Director, Thai Digital Platform Trade Association
• Anont Tanaset, Policy Specialist at Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council
• Keith Detros, Programme Manager, Tech for Good Institute

Key Takeaways

• Clearer AI Regulatory Guidance Is Needed
  Thailand does not yet have a standalone AI law. The most recent legislative milestone is the Draft Principles of Artificial Intelligence Law, released for public consultation in mid-2025 and currently undergoing refinement. Enactment is expected within two to three years. In the meantime, existing legislation covering data protection, cybersecurity, electronic transactions, and sector-specific regulation governs AI development and deployment. These frameworks are setting the baseline for responsible AI practice.

From the perspective of the stakeholders, the absence of clearer regulatory AI guidance presents a challenge. Across any given project, companies may simultaneously face obligations under multiple regulatory frameworks, such as intellectual property law, personal data protection law, consumer protection law, cybersecurity law, and various sector-specific regulations. The concern is not only legal complexity but also the duplicative compliance burdens and uncertainty that may slow responsible AI deployment, particularly when clear guidance is most needed.

Three recommendations emerged from the discussion as priorities. First, a principles-based framework should be adopted, providing adaptive guidance that can keep pace with rapid technological change without requiring constant revision. Second, risk classification approaches should be co-developed with industry, civil society, and technical experts to ensure that regulatory frameworks reflect operational realities. Third, sector-specific guidelines should be developed in parallel, recognising that AI applications in health, transport, and finance carry materially different risk profiles and cannot be governed effectively by a single horizontal standard.

• Reframing the Conversation of Digital Sovereignty from A Control to Governance Perspective
  Digital sovereignty emerged as a key theme of the roundtable discussion. Recent regulatory developments suggest that Thailand’s current approach is infrastructure-anchored. For example, the 2025 expansion of the Cybersecurity Act explicitly designates critical information infrastructure (CII) organisations, including cloud providers and data centres, as the nation’s “essential digital backbone.” Separately, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has indicated that a new regulatory framework for data centre operators is underway. This may introduce foreign ownership restrictions and reclassify data centre operations under stricter monitoring requirements.

However, the discussion also highlighted two practical limitations: Thailand may not possess the resources and capability to build every layer of the AI stack domestically, while critical infrastructure, including data centres and cloud services, remains largely provided by a complex supply chain involving multiple vendors. In this context, framing sovereignty primarily around ownership risks sets an unachievable benchmark. Participants instead suggested reframing sovereignty as the capacity to govern, rather than a binary choice between full domestic control and open dependency.

On this basis, the strategic focus should shift towards governing responsible use, setting guardrails  with various providers, and building systemic resilience. This approach allows Thailand to benefit from global innovation while reducing exposure to single-provider dependencies — a more operationally grounded model of digital sovereignty.

• Secure Data-Sharing Standards Underpin Effective Tech Governance in Thailand
  Secure data-sharing standards emerged as the foundational enabler of effective tech governance in Thailand, including AI governance and digital sovereignty. Progress in these areas depends on the ability to move data reliably and securely across agencies and sectors. However, this capability remains underdeveloped.

Government datasets are currently held across multiple agencies with limited interoperability. Regulatory sandboxes, while recognised as a valuable tool for adaptive governance, are constrained when the underlying data infrastructure does not support cross-agency sharing. This limits evidence-based policymaking and also affects investment signalling for the private sector.

The challenge is exacerbated by the cross-cutting nature of emerging technologies. Applications such as autonomous vehicles, AI-enabled drones, and agentic AI systems span multiple regulatory domains, cutting across ministries and legal frameworks. Without strong inter-agency coordination and clear data-sharing protocols, governance risks becoming fragmented and reactive.

In response, participants highlighted three key potential areas for action. First, establish clear and secure data-sharing standards across government, providing the foundation for effective AI regulation and sovereign governance capacity. Second, strengthen inter-agency coordination mechanisms to manage technologies that span multiple regulatory domains. Third, enhance public–private cooperation to ensure governance frameworks are grounded in operational realities and implementable across sectors.