The Thailand tech news snapshot for April 2024 touched on items including: Details of the Thai Prime Minister’s election-promised ‘digital baht’ cryptocurrency giveaway; Thailand’s participation in China’s lunar space station project; Thailand-Australian fintech association partnership; and more.
Our other editions span daily updates, weekly newsletters, monthly round-ups, and quarterly collections.
- Thailand joins China-led International Lunar Research Station project, joining Venezuela, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, South Africa and Egypt / read it here
- Thailand’s National Innovation Agency inks MOU with Korea Tourism Organisation around travel-tech, aiming to boost startups in sector and shared ecosystems / read it here
- Thailand: AIS The StartUp digital infra provider, Stock Exchange of Thailand, National Innovation Agency and Thai Startup Ass’n join for ESG education programme / read it here
- Thailand: PM announces much-delayed election-pledge digital wallet scheme, with 50 million citizens able to register in Q3 for 10,000 baht giveaway wired to accounts in Q4 / read it here
Key points of Thailand’s digital baht ‘giveaway’:
i) The program will distribute almost $14 billion in cash handouts to stimulate growth in Thailand’s economy.
ii) Each of the 50 million Thai citizens will receive 10,000 baht (approximately $275) via a digital wallet in the fourth quarter.
iii) The program targets adults earning no more than 70,000 baht a month and they should have less than 500,000 baht in their bank accounts.
iv) The beneficiaries need to spend the money within six months in the area where they are domiciled and they can buy goods from small shops registered under the program.
v) The program is funded by the budget and loans from a state lender.
- China’s NETA Auto enters mass production in Thailand, targeting output of 20,000 EVs annually / read it here
- FinTech Australia and Thai Fintech Association ink MOU around collaboration and promotion of fintech capabilities between Australia and Thailand / read it here
- Thailand PM reportedly in talks with Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam around a Schengen-style scheme allowing visa-free travel within the 6-country bloc / read it here
Tech news: Asia & Indo-Pacific
- Daily: On Twitter/X / On Facebook / On LinkedIn
- Weekly: Asia’s Tech News, Weekly – Linkedin & Substack
- Monthly: Asia & IndoPac monthly tech summaries
- Quarterly: Asian tech quarterly, every 3 months