{"id":32926,"date":"2026-10-21T16:37:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/?p=32926"},"modified":"2026-10-21T16:37:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:37:51","slug":"e_thailand-foresight-roundtable-2026-by-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/en\/e_thailand-foresight-roundtable-2026-by-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Decoding Thailand\u2019s Future: Seizing Global Economic Opportunities in the Next Intelligence Economy Insights from \u201cThailand Foresight Roundtable 2026 by True\u201d at CP Innovation Exposition 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

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What opportunities are emerging for Thailand amid rapid global change, particularly as the accelerating development of AI drives everyone to adapt and prepare for the Next Intelligence Economy? CP Group and True Corporation hosted \u201cThailand Foresight Roundtable 2026 by True\u201d<\/strong>, bringing together leaders from the public and private sectors to explore the challenges ahead and share perspectives on Thailand\u2019s readiness for the future. Held under the theme \u201cTHAILAND\u2019S FUTURE INNOVATION FRONTIER: Thailand in the Global Economic Landscape of the Next Intelligence Economy\u201d, the forum took place as part of CP Innovation Exposition 2026. On this occasion, Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont, Senior Vice Chairman and Chief Innovation of Charoen Pokphand Group<\/strong>, welcomed participants at True Digital Park.<\/p>\n

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Ensuring Clean Power Readiness for the AI Era<\/strong><\/p>\n

H.E. Akanat Promphan, Minister of Energy,<\/strong> presided over the event and delivered a special keynote address on energy readiness to support the new intelligent economy. Speaking on \u201cThailand\u2019s Next Growth Infrastructure\u201d, he expressed confidence that the government had made comprehensive plans and preparations, as electricity will be a key competitive advantage for Thailand. The country has sufficient power generation capacity, a factor attracting data center operators to invest in Thailand, supported by the country\u2019s capabilities and well-prepared supply chains.<\/p>\n

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However, the energy transition required by new AI-driven industries calls for more than electricity alone. It also demands clean electricity, which Thailand must produce in greater quantities. \u201cWe have ambitious plans to revise our power generation plan and increase the share of clean electricity from 20% to 50% within 10 years, and to more than 65% by 2050\u201d, he said. In addition to clean electricity, Thailand is studying new technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs), to strengthen energy security and meet rising electricity demand.<\/p>\n

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Daring to Rethink as AI Evolves at an Accelerating Pace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Sigve Brekke, Group Chief Executive Officer of True Corporation Plc.<\/strong>, emphasized the urgent need for people to strengthen their capabilities to keep pace with AI, whose capabilities are growing at an unprecedented rate.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAI capabilities are doubling every three months. Technology is moving faster than ever before, fundamentally changing competition, business models, and the future of work. Leaders who want to succeed in the AI era must go beyond simply adopting AI. They need to reimagine what is possible next and transform how their businesses operate from end to end. I believe we may see more companies adopt an \u2018Hourglass\u2019 model, with stronger capabilities at the top, leaner middle management, and frontline employees empowered by AI and data to think, make decisions, and create value like business owners. The real opportunity is not simply changing the shape of the organization, but expanding what our people are capable of doing. And this must start with leadership. Leaders must do more than set the direction. They must drive the change themselves and bring everyone on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Is Thailand Ready to Change and Seize Major Opportunities?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a world undergoing unexpected changes, how should we respond? Dr. Kobsak Pootrakool, Director & Senior Executive Vice President at Bangkok Bank Plc.<\/strong>, shared his perspectives in a session titled \u201cThe Next Economic Horizon\u201d. He said the world is facing changes and challenges more concerning than ever before. Geopolitical conflicts that have emerged over the past two to three years are unlikely to end soon and will remain long-term sources of tension. Trade wars represent another dimension of these conflicts. Yet amid crises in many parts of the world, ASEAN is gaining business opportunities. Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand are all rapidly developing infrastructure, including data centers, ports, airports and power plants. An important sign is the continued increase in foreign capital inflows.<\/p>\n

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\u201cASEAN will have tremendous business opportunities and become a new S-curve for businesses worldwide, particularly Thailand, which enjoys a strategic geographic advantage\u201d, Dr. Kobsak said. He also highlighted the potential of opening an Andaman coast gateway connecting to India, which could shorten travel times. Thailand has significant opportunities over the next five years. The question is whether the country is ready and bold enough to change quickly.<\/p>\n

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Leadership and Turning AI Adoption into Measurable Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Sachin Chitturu, Partner at McKinsey & Head of Quantum Black SEA<\/strong>, said AI is fundamentally transforming how people work, how businesses operate and how society functions. Technological progress is occurring at an unprecedented pace, with new AI models and capabilities emerging almost every 10 days. This means that over an 18-month organizational transformation plan, the technology a company intends to deploy may have changed at least 20 times. Meanwhile, AI is evolving from a productivity tool into AI agents capable of independently performing increasingly complex tasks. Yet most organizations still focus on using AI to improve individual productivity rather than deliver business outcomes at the organizational level. Therefore, the heart of AI Transformation is not merely adopting technology, but reimagining and redesigning business operations to create measurable value. Leaders must drive change across four key areas: defining roles and ways for humans and AI to work together; redesigning workflows and business models; planning technology architecture and managing costs; and managing AI risks, security and governance. Organizations must also clearly define the boundaries of decision-making between humans and AI to strike the right balance between efficiency, quality and cost.<\/p>\n

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Panel Discussion: Thailand\u2019s Opportunities in the Intelligent Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The event also featured a panel discussion with leading speakers who shared their perspectives on Thailand\u2019s innovation capabilities and opportunities in the intelligent economy. Mr. Chula Sukmanop, Ph.D., Secretary-General of the Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO)<\/strong>, discussed Thailand\u2019s potential amid global change. He noted that the EEC\u2019s strengths are its technology, digitalization and automation. Looking ahead, AI will play a vital role as a foundational technology supporting and driving the intelligent economy, while also helping shape the future economic system. AI will transform the development of industrial estates, requiring different approaches to infrastructure development and a greater focus on the quality, rather than the quantity, of human capital to support the intelligent economy.<\/p>\n

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Asked what opportunities the emerging global landscape is creating for Thailand, Dr. Kobsak said the country has considerable potential in the intelligent economy. This is reflected in the value of foreign investment promoted by Thailand\u2019s Board of Investment (BOI), which he said has risen from THB 500 billion in the past to THB 2.5 \u2013 2.8 trillion per year today. Importantly, much of this investment is in industries aligned with the intelligent economy, such as data centers, clean energy and biotechnology. Over the next five years, new technologies will create many more opportunities for Thailand, making it essential for both people and businesses to learn and adapt.<\/p>\n

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Mr. Sachin also highlighted key considerations when using AI to develop the new economy, particularly value for money and cost management. He noted that AI is already widely used around the world at various levels, including large language models (LLMs) and emerging capabilities. Not having an LLM, or combining different models, is not the problem. What matters is how the technology is used, whether its capabilities are fully utilized, and whether the people using it understand how to work with AI.<\/p>\n

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  What opportunities are emerging for Thailand amid rapid global change, particularly as the accelerating development of AI drives everyone to adapt and prepare for the Next Intelligence Economy? CP Group and True Corporation hosted \u201cThailand Foresight Roundtable 2026 by True\u201d, bringing together leaders from the public and private sectors to explore the challenges ahead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":32912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[161,312],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-releases-en","category-bettertogether-en","sticky"],"acf":[],"author_data":{"id":9,"name":"Nawinda Pitaksang","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38b6bb341343c0104ebb1fd0132e573ea36be08b1f7591ff4070c30a7f69bab5?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32926"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32927,"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32926\/revisions\/32927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.true.th\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}