13 July 2022

Thailand established a new public-private partnership focused on using 5G to encourage economic growth across several industry verticals.

Prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced the creation of the alliance at the recent Thailand 5G Summit 2022.

Led by Thailand’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency, it brings together representatives from operators AIS and True Corp as well as Chinese vendor Huawei. Regulator the National Broadcast Telecommunications Commission, the Federation of Thai Industries, the Office of the Digital Economy and Society Commission, the Thai IoT Association and the Telecommunications Association of Thailand make up the rest of the alliance.

The prime minister underlined Thailand’s ambition to become a digital hub in southeast Asia and said that the alliance would aim to expand cooperation between the public and private sectors to “commercially drive Thailand’s 5G technology development in every industry”.

Prayut said that the alliance would boost digital innovation and thereby make Thailand more competitive in this space, attracting overseas investment. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has been tasked with developing frameworks that promote the use of 5G, as well as managing the requisite infrastructure.

Agriculture, education, public health and transport are the sectors targeted by the alliance.