Thailand is pressing ahead with its digital economy policy but still ranks low in terms of how successfully it has made the digital jump, a new survey shows.
The country ranked 40th out of 60 in the Digital Evolution Index 2017 (DEI) compiled by the Fletcher School at Tufts University in partnership with Mastercard.
IT industry experts said the country must focus on improving regulatory frameworks, public trust and insufficiently skilled and shrinking workforce to accelerate this digital transformation as the country moves to embrace a new economic model dubbed Thailand 4.0.
The index measures four key drivers -- internet access; consumer demand in digital technology; the institutional environment, such as government policy, laws and resources; and innovation, including investment in research, and digital start-ups -- and 170 unique indicators.
The DEI study characterised countries as belonging to one of four groups.
Stand Out: These countries demonstrate high levels of digital development while continuing to lead in innovation and new growth. Singapore, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, Estonia, Hong Kong, Japan and Israel are in this group.
Stall Out: Many developed countries such as in Western Europe, Nordic countries, Australia and South Korea have a history of strong growth, but their momentum is slowing. Without further innovation they are at risk of falling behind.
Break Out: This group shows a relatively lower level of digital advancement but demonstrates the fastest momentum, making it attractive to investors. Countries include China, Kenya, Russia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Mexico.
Watch Out: These countries face significant challenges as they are constrained by low levels of digital advancement and slow growth. They include South Africa, Peru, Egypt, Greece and Pakistan. The study placed Thailand in the last category, reflecting its low level of digitisation, slow momentum in terms of filling infrastructural gaps, institutional constraints, and low sophistication of consumer demand.
One key concern is that the digital economy policy has only been implemented on a superficial level, said Thanachart Numnonda, an executive director at the IMC Institute.
The country is still lacking a comprehensive legal framework to increase trust in digital developments, cybersecurity and data protection, added Mr Thanachart, who formerly served as president of the Association of Thai ICT Industry.
Moreover, it still relies too much on paperwork when faster electronic alternatives could be adopted, critics say.
Even though Thailand has started adopting electronic services to make life more convenient for the public, and is adopting big data analytics in planning and decision-making, it needs a bigger digital workforce and more IT experts from abroad, experts contend.
"The adoption rate of smartphones and social media is high but we are still very low in terms of using mobile wallets and mobile payments," said Mr Thanachart.
Nonetheless, wireless penetration is relatively high and digital policy is on the right track, meaning the chief problems lie in execution and implementation, according to Jarit Sidhu, a research manager at IDC Thailand.
Regulations also need to be better managed, he said, noting that over-the-top content services should not fall under the control of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission.
Meanwhile, many large private corporations have made an early start in their digital transformation but the education sector has not kept pace by failing to provide them with a digitally skilled workforce, critics say.
Despite this, there are indications Thailand is improving. Citing another study called the Global Connectivity Index (GCI) 2017 that was commissioned by China's Huawei and conducted by IDC, Mr Jarit said Thailand ranked 33rd out of 50 countries. Two years ago it ranked 39th in an earlier version of the same study.
GCI described Thailand as an early adopter in terms of information and communication technology development. It said the country performed outstandingly in its broadband assessment, and GCI awarded it top marks for mobile broadband coverage.
These achievements have been attributed to the government's digital economy plan, which was tasked with getting nearly 40,000 villages connected using broadband, including free WiFi.
According to the study, Thailand is on the right track to becoming a digital infrastructure hub.