The country's ICT goal was revealed in June when ZDNet Asia spoke with Kraisorn Pornsutee, Thailand's Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, and is likely to be reinforced at the annual Bangkok ICT Expo.
IDC Asia-Pacific analyst
The five-day conference and exhibition, which opens today in the Thai capital city, is a key element to showcase Thailand's ICT capabilities to the region and beyond, Kraisorn said. According to a MICT press release last month, over 300 companies from more than 20 countries have committed to participating in this year's event. In addition, over 10,000 foreigners are expected to visit the exhibition.
Sandra Ng, vice president for communications, peripherals and services research at IDC Asia-Pacific, noted that there were challenges Thailand would have to face, particularly in terms of infrastructure and culture.
To begin with, Thailand needs to clearly define the concept of "hub", Ng said. Its plan to be an IT hub appears to be the country's move to reduce its dependence on tourism, and attract foreign investment and technology partners, she said.
While some technology companies have based their Asean headquarters in neighboring countries such as Malaysia, this was "not quite the case" in Thailand, she added. Ng attributed this to the country's telecoms infrastructure which is still "not as developed" as countries such as Singapore.
To become a hub, the government also needs to put in place proper telecoms legislation, the IDC analyst pointed out.
In addition, mindsets need to be changed, she said. Government-related processes and decision-making cycles of Thai government-linked companies tend to be rather long, she noted, a scenario that needs to be improved to speed up the investments Thailand needs to achieve its target.
"It's just very ambitious for [Thailand to put down] a 2008 timeline," said Ng. "It's not impossibleÂ… unless they [can] rapidly ramp up their infrastructure, I think it's very difficult to achieve that goal."
Chris Perrine, vice president of Springboard Research, said that Thailand also has to contend with other economies in the region that have been ramping up their ICT capabilities.
"Many countries in Asean already have expanded rapidly in [their] ICT [plans], and have [such] a large lead on Thailand that will [make it] tough for the country to overcome in the short term, and from a broad perspective," he explained.
"Thailand also has to grapple with the fact that English is not its native or commonly spoken language, which is an advantage that countries like Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia have," Perrine noted.
He added that infrastructure and IT skills--two critical components in a successful ICT hub--are issues that Thailand has to think about. The country not only needs to raise the national level, it also needs to beef up resources in these two areas, particularly outside the city of Bangkok.
Paving the way forward
Undeterred, the Thai administration has initiated several key IT projects which include e-passports and chip-based identity cards. It is also in the process of implementing a
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