Welcome to What’s Trending in Thailand
We’ve found a noticeable absence of reliable Thai tech news, so we’re doing something about it. Each Tuesday, Aware will bring you Thai Tech Trends; analyzing local, regional and global trends and discussing how they might impact Thai organizations.
The Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) forecasts 8.6% growth in the local software sector this year for a market value of 49.6 billion baht, down from 9.9% growth last year.
The decrease was due mainly to the immediate suspension of IT investment projects from state agencies because of political instability. Despite some delays in investments, we can see that there is plenty of room for the sector to expand further.
The projection from the TDRI seems promising, but if we take into account the piracy rate in the country, you will be surprised how far the software industry could have gone and how much more of an economic impact it could have contributed. A 2010 study done by research firm IDC for The Software Alliance (BSA) estimated that decreasing Thailand’s software piracy rate by ten points over a four-year period would add US$1.3 billion in GDP to Thailand, produce an additional $73 million in tax revenues and create 2,175 new high-wage IT jobs.
Thailand is not a small playground anymore, there’s growth in gadgets like smartphones, tablets and now smartwatches that play a major role in our work and social lives. With the internet of things quickly becoming a reality, businesses are finding it hard to source for top IT talents to manage this trend. Software developers or application developers can be a great career choice, but the persistent problem of piracy can be a problem and a deterrent to new talent.
So who should take on the mantle to bring Thailand’s IT Market forward? It’s up to us, the local IT organisations and the government to help educate Thailand on importance of software and piracy’s negative impact on the countries growth.
References:
http://tdri.or.th/en/tdri-insight/software-growth-weakens/
http://www.iipa.com/rbc/2013/2013SPEC301THAILAND.PDF
