Key facts
- Yodchanan Wongsawat, deputy prime minister and minister of higher education, science, research and innovation, outlined the AI literacy goal on November 11, 2026.
- The ministry's AI literacy goal covers 20 million people across four development levels: Foundation, Industry Ready, Technology Creator and Frontier Master.
- Yodchanan said the ministry's AI for Thai Discovery initiative aims to support new discoveries through Thailand's own foundation models.
- Yodchanan argued that Thailand should develop advanced mathematical and algorithmic skills before investing in data centres and a 3-gigaelectronvolt synchrotron.
- Thailand's space plans include developing 18 Thai satellites to give local start-ups practical opportunities to build technology, Yodchanan said.
Thailand's deputy prime minister and minister of higher education, science, research and innovation, Yodchanan Wongsawat, outlined plans on November 11, 2026 to build artificial intelligence literacy among 20 million people in Thailand. He spoke at Thansettakij's "Innovation Power Up: Developing People, Creating Innovation" keynote event, according to a report by The Nation Thailand.
Yodchanan linked education reform and scientific investment to new sources of economic growth. He argued that education must move beyond preparing graduates for existing vacancies and equip them to build new businesses and industries. Universities needed to break down divisions between subjects such as physics, chemistry and biology, using AI to connect knowledge across disciplines, he said.
He observed that the gap between people who use AI and those who do not was widening dramatically, describing a K-shaped divide becoming almost vertical. Children and other members of the public who could develop and use AI effectively might accomplish tasks beyond some doctoral graduates, he argued.
The ministry's "AI for Thai Discovery" initiative aims to support new discoveries through Thailand's own foundation models. Yodchanan argued that competing internationally, including with Silicon Valley, required Thailand to develop capabilities beyond importing ready-made models.
He acknowledged that industry criticism of universities for producing graduates with unsuitable skills was partly justified. However, universities also had to prepare people for industries that did not yet exist, because nobody could guarantee that established sectors would survive another five or 10 years, he said.
The ministry's AI literacy goal covers 20 million people, with four development levels: Foundation, Industry Ready, Technology Creator and Frontier Master. Yodchanan identified the National Science and Technology Development Agency's Skill Bridge mechanism as a means of supporting this progression.
Yodchanan stressed that factories alone could not secure technological competitiveness. Countries with strong semiconductor and biotechnology industries also had physicists, biologists and Nobel laureates with deep expertise in fundamental science, he said.
Thailand should develop advanced mathematical and algorithmic skills before investing in data centres and a 3-gigaelectronvolt synchrotron, Yodchanan argued. He linked the synchrotron project to an ambition to place Thailand among the world's top 10.
He identified physical AI, programmable biology and organoids as priorities for advanced research, arguing that organoids could shorten drug-testing times to 1.5 to 2 years. Other areas included precision medicine, sequencing to develop specialised foods, and the "AI 4M" project to design new materials from agricultural produce.
Higher research and development budgets and investment in world-class scientific equipment were also necessary, Yodchanan argued. Thailand's space plans include developing 18 Thai satellites to give local start-ups practical opportunities to build technology, he said.