By Sean Yuan, Vice President of International Business and General Manager of Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, and South Pacific Region at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence
Thailand’s digital economy continues to evolve rapidly, driven by government initiatives, private-sector innovation, and a growing demand for advanced cloud and AI solutions. Businesses are embracing digital tools to boost efficiency, enhance customer experiences, and unlock new opportunities, making cloud adoption and AI integration critical components of the country’s economic transformation.
The Thai government is prioritizing three strategic pillars to position the country as a regional AI hub: cultivating AI-ready talents, advancing digital infrastructure, and accelerating AI adoption across key industries. Specifically, it aims to train 10 million AI users, 90,000 professionals, and 50,000 developers within two years, alongside investments in cloud systems, data centers, and open-source AI platforms to enable scalable, cost-effective solutions.
A government study reveals that while under 20% of Thai organizations have implemented AI, over 70% plan to do so, highlighting immense growth potential. This momentum aligns with Thailand’s public cloud market, projected to grow at a 23.68% CAGR from 2025 to 2030, reaching US$8.51 billion by 2030. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will lead this expansion, expected to hit US$ 950.23 million by 2025.
Building Foundations for Growth
To support the nation’s digital ambitions, we launched our second data center in Thailand with richer solutions earlier this year, strengthening our commitment to secure, high-performance cloud solutions tailored for Thai businesses. This infrastructure empowers businesses to deploy AI, big data analytics, and industry-specific applications without compromising latency, compliance, or scalability.
Beyond infrastructure, we’re collaborating with Thailand’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) and universities to nurture talent through training programs, AI competitions, and e-learning platforms. A standout initiative is “Eye for Thailand”, our first AI-powered video contest, where participants used tools like Alibaba’s video-generation model Wan2.1 to blend tradition with innovation.
The two-month contest attracted over 200 applicants nationwide, from developers to marketers, culminating in a demo day where finalists showcased creativity and technical skills. Prize winners exemplified how AI can revolutionize storytelling, underscoring the public’s growing engagement with emerging technologies.
Expanding Regional and Global Impact
Southeast Asia remains pivotal for cloud adoption. Alongside Thailand’s new data center, we expanded infrastructure in Mexico, South Korea, and Malaysia, with the Philippines slated for October. Our global network now spans 89 availability zones across 29 regions, delivering scalable, low-latency cloud services.
Proven expertise in complex migrations was demonstrated in Indonesia, where we supported Indonesia’s largest digital ecosystem GoTo Group’s seamless transition of its financial services infrastructure to our cloud, achieving zero downtime for millions of users. Post-migration, GoTo migrated its core business data platform, leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s MaxCompute to enhance operational agility and cost efficiency, migrating tens of petabytes of data without disruption over a six-month period. Such projects highlight our capacity to deliver resilient, large-scale transformations across sectors.
Democratizing AI with Open-Source Innovation
As AI adoption accelerates, open-source models are key to inclusivity. Our latest large language model, Qwen3, has surpassed 12.5 million global downloads. The Qwen3 series, from lightweight 0.6B-parameter models to advanced Mixture-of-Experts architectures, enables developers to build AI solutions in healthcare, education, and smart devices.
Its broad language support including Thai and vibrant open-source community set it apart. On platforms like Hugging Face, developers have created over 130,000 derivative models—a testament to Qwen’s versatility. By open-sourcing these tools, we empower startups, researchers, and developers to drive AI innovations.
Towards a Collaborative Future
Thailand’s digital transformation accelerates, with cloud technology, AI adoption, and skills development as pivotal priorities. At Alibaba Cloud, we remain committed to advancing this journey through reliable infrastructure, accessible AI tools, and talent empowerment.
As we deepen our presence in Thailand and Southeast Asia, we strive to be a trusted partner in shaping the region’s digital future, where innovation meets inclusivity, and ambition meets execution. Together, we can unlock boundless opportunities for the Thailand’s businesses, communities, and the next generation of digital talents.