Thailand's Economic Competitiveness
จาก "ความกลัว" สู่ "นวัตกรรมเปลี่ยนโลก": ทางรอดของไทยในสงคราม AI ในวันที่เทคโนโลยีคือ "อาวุธ"
Summary
The internet, GPS and drones trace back to the Cold War, when fear of Sputnik led the United States to create DARPA.
Today the US and China treat AI and chips as strategic weapons, which is why the investment is at that scale.
The question that follows is whether Thailand can convert the risk it faces into the same kind of drive.
Key points
Big innovation usually comes from necessity, not appetite
DARPA was created out of fear rather than opportunity — a pattern that recurs.
The state funds what the market will not
Payback horizons too long for private capital are exactly where public investment has a role.
Calling it a weapon changes the budget
Classifying a technology as security reshapes the scale of resources that can be mobilised.
Thailand has the risk but not the machinery
Fear alone is not enough. It needs an institution that converts it into actual research.