ICT and Economic Development: Analyzing Thailand’s Path to the Information Economy

This analysis of the development of Thailand’s information economy places particular emphasis on its ICT and social infrastructure development. Drawing upon lessons learned from similar development trajectories in Ireland, China, and India we develop a set of guidelines for Thailand to consider as it continues its information economy development. From the policy perspective, Thailand, similar to other countries, plans to use ICT as an enabler to develop a knowledge-based society. From the infrastructure perspective, some challenges that Thailand faces are unequal infrastructure development across regions, a small skilled workforce, and low R&D expenditures in the ICT sector. Case studies of ICT sector development in Ireland, India, and China suggest several important strategies and actions that Thailand could emphasize. These include facilitating ICT sector work, ensuring a supply of qualified workforce, exploiting the country’s distinctive capacities, and reconfiguring and adapting its information policy to changes in the global ICT market.