E-commerce leaders are proposing the government establish a national e-marketplace as an alternative for local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to promote their products and services.
The move would reduce their reliance on large foreign e-marketplaces that continue to raise commission fees and dominate the e-commerce space.
In Southeast Asia, only Vietnam and Indonesia have successful local e-marketplaces.
In 2024, the value of the Thai e-commerce market was 1 trillion baht, with a 50% share claimed by e-marketplaces, 20% by video commerce, 18% by social commerce, 8% by quick commerce and grocery, and 4% by brand-owned websites, according to Priceza, a shopping search engine and comparison platform.
"Over the past 25 years, the government has attempted to support 20-30 local e-marketplaces, but they all failed," said Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, founder of Tarad.com and honorary president of the Thailand E-Commerce Association.
Of the total, around eight local marketplaces fell out of the market due to lack of massive marketing investments and promotional efforts to attract customers from foreign-owned platforms, he said.
The foreign players made large investments, offered free services and heavily discounted prices, even absorbing losses in an effort to control the market, said Mr Pawoot.
From 2015 to 2023, Shopee accumulated losses of 15.6 billion baht, while Lazada recorded losses of 13.7 billion baht between 2017 and 2024.
Meanwhile, they gradually raised their commission fees from zero to 20-30%, he said.
"It is time for Thailand to have a national e-marketplace to create opportunities for local businesses," said Mr Pawoot.
He said the Thai marketplace would not compete with local e-marketplace operators, focusing instead on implementing government policies to support SMEs.
The national e-marketplace would be independent from the government and have shareholders that include strategic investors and key state agencies, said Mr Pawoot.
"The e-marketplace can link with trusted standard organisations to bring local products to its platform," he said.
With the direction of US reciprocal tariffs up in the air, Chinese manufacturers will continue to flood Southeast Asian markets through foreign e-marketplaces, said Mr Pawoot.
"We should have our own national e-marketplace for specific local products to enable them to survive," he said.
Thanawat Malabuppha, honorary president of the Thailand E-Commerce Association and founder of Priceza, said Thailand must strive for digital commerce independence, reducing reliance on foreign-owned marketplaces.
Roughly 70% of Thailand's e-commerce market value last year was shared by foreign players Shopee, Lazada and TikTok.
He said more than 50% of online sales flow through e-marketplaces, reflecting a dependency that could weaken the nation's retail landscape.
"The retail sector is a fundamental pillar of the economy, and in the digital age e-commerce is not just a sales channel -- it is deeply embedded in people's daily lives," said Mr Thanawat.
Marketplaces such as Shopee and Lazada have reached nearly the same annual sales volume as CP Axtra Plc, the operator of popular wholesale and retail brands Makro and Lotus's, at 500 billion baht.
"This confirms e-commerce is no longer just a supplementary channel, but has become the backbone of the Thai retail sector," he said.
Social commerce is growing faster than expected. TikTok Shop generated 200 billion baht in sales last year, up from around 100 billion in 2023.
Three-pronged approach
Mr Thanawat said Thailand must take a three-pronged approach, pursuing all strategies simultaneously.
First, the country should support the growth of existing Thai-owned marketplaces.
"In my view, NocNoc is the best candidate for state support. It's time to move beyond the idea that every platform must receive equal backing -- the government does not have the resources to equally support all the players," he said.
Second, Thailand must encourage brands and retailers to establish direct-to-consumer e-commerce websites.
Mr Thanawat said the government should partner with Thai web development platforms such as LnwShop, BentoWeb, KetShopWeb and others to develop e-commerce websites for brands.
Third, the government should develop a national digital marketing ecosystem.
The country can leverage Thailand's vast network of content creators to create affiliate or digital marketing for local products, he said.
Thailand has more than 9 million content creators, most of whom promote sales on foreign-owned platforms.
Mr Thanawat said the government could partner with Priceza to build an affiliate marketing network, enabling content creators to promote products on Thai marketplaces.