Thailand Ships AI Hardware but Only 12% of Its Firms Use AI

Only 12% of Thai firms used any AI technology by December 2025, and 4% paid for AI software or systems, the World Bank said in its October 2026 East Asia and Pacific Economic Update. Yet AI-related goods, mostly assembled equipment such as computers, servers and routers, accounted for more than 70% of Thailand's export growth by April 2026. In the United States, 43% of firms used AI and 23% paid for it.

For most Thai companies, the AI boom has so far arrived as export orders, not new ways of working. Electronics exporters gain from foreign spending on servers and routers, but the Bank lists a correction in AI investment among its main risks. Limited know-how and cost are the reasons non-users cite most often, the Bank found.

The report, Riding the AI Wave, came out on 6 October, days before Bangkok hosted the IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings from 12 to 18 October, the Nation reported.

AI hardware drives the export surge

AI-related products made up more than 70% of export growth in Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam too, the report says. Unlike China, which mostly ships components, Thailand sells finished machines: assembled equipment makes up 69% of its AI-related exports, against 60% for Vietnam, and more of it goes to end buyers in the United States.

Computers and parts have doubled their share of Thailand's export basket since 2023, to 8%, the Bank says. The second-quarter report of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) put export value at US$99.1 billion, up 17.6%, with telecommunications equipment up 129.0% and computer parts and accessories up 65.5%.

The gains are narrow. Thai manufacturing output fell for three months in a row and was down 3.1% in June, even as production of electrical equipment grew 8%, the Bank says. GDP growth slowed to 1.9% year on year in the second quarter of 2026 from 2.8% in the first, the NESDC said.

Cost and know-how hold Thai firms back

The figures come from the AI module of the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, which covered formal-sector firms in six developing economies, Thailand among them, against a US benchmark. It is the Bank's first survey of how firms use AI, the Nation reported from a briefing by Franziska Ohnsorge, the Bank's chief economist for East Asia and Pacific. In India the shares were 23% and 4%, the report says.

Other surveys of Thai organisations published this year used different samples and questions and found higher adoption; SV News compared three of them. A different 12% figure, from Education Minister Prasert Chanthararuangthong at Microsoft's AI jobs launch, counts working-age people who used AI in early 2026; this one counts firms.

Thai firms are hopeful on average. Asked how much faster AI progress would lift sales per worker over three years, they expected a gain of 3.8%, against 1.3% for US firms. But the hope sits with a few: nearly 80% of Thai firms expect almost no gain, while 13% expect 20% or more.

The barriers are basic. Non-users most often cite limited knowledge and high costs; among users, cost is the main brake on doing more. Low adoption may reflect that the expected benefits of AI do not yet outweigh its costs, the Bank says. Ohnsorge said cheaper models should help, but the big gains come only once AI is built into business processes, which takes time.

The Bank's press release set out the task:

The challenge now is to turn the region's strength in producing AI-related goods into widespread AI adoption that boosts productivity and creates more and better jobs for millions of people.

World Bank lifts Thai 2026 forecast to 2.0%

The Bank raised its 2026 growth forecast for Thailand by 0.7 percentage points to 2.0%, saying strong exports, AI-related investment and energy relief are partly offsetting higher energy prices that weigh on tourism and logistics. It expects 2.3% in 2027. The NESDC's own 2026 forecast, published in August, is 2.0 to 2.5%.

The risk is concentration. China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam exported US$1.4 trillion of AI-related goods in the 12 months to April 2026; the United States imported US$739 billion, a third of it from East Asia and Pacific. A correction in AI investment would hit the region through slower exports and tighter financial conditions at once, Ohnsorge said.

Jobs are the longer question. About 13% of AI-exposed jobs in East Asia and Pacific involve the non-routine cognitive tasks that AI supports best, against 39% in advanced economies, so the region faces less near-term risk of job losses but also smaller gains. The Bank's advice is "Small AI": adopt and adapt cheaper existing tools. Its examples include ThaiLLM, the Thai-language model NSTDA announced in April.

IMF flags AI debt as Thai GDP data nears

The IMF released its World Economic Outlook in Bangkok on 13 October, forecasting world growth of 3.1% in 2026. It warned of rising debt, including AI-related borrowing, and said the United States and China account for more than three-quarters of net import demand for chips and other AI equipment, AP reported. Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called AI's effect on jobs "a slow moving tsunami, but a tsunami nonetheless."

The next official reading comes at 9.30am on Monday 16 November, when the NESDC publishes third-quarter 2026 GDP, according to its release calendar. It will show whether exports kept growing.

FAQ

How many Thai firms use AI?

By December 2025, 12% of Thai firms used at least one AI technology and 4% paid for AI software or systems, the World Bank found. The data comes from the AI module of its Enterprise Surveys.

What does Thailand export to the AI industry?

Mostly finished equipment. Assembled equipment such as computers, servers and routers makes up 69% of Thailand's AI-related exports, and AI-related products accounted for more than 70% of Thai export growth by April 2026.

Why are Thai firms slow to adopt AI?

Thai firms that do not use AI most often cite limited knowledge and high costs. Nearly 80% of Thai firms expect faster AI progress to add almost nothing to sales per worker, the World Bank says.

Why is the World Bank's figure lower than other surveys?

The surveys measure different things. The World Bank asked formal-sector firms whether they used any AI technology, with data running to December 2025. Other 2026 surveys of Thai organisations used different samples and questions and found higher adoption.

Sources

• World Bank: Riding the AI Wave, East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, October 2026 (PDF)
• World Bank: East Asia and Pacific Sees Steady Growth Amid Global Uncertainty
• Nation Thailand: World Bank Flags AI Adoption Gap and El Niño Risks to Thailand's Growth
• Nation Thailand: IMF-World Bank 2026 agenda puts global outlook, AI and Thailand in focus
• Bangkok Post: Microsoft launches project to enhance AI skills and jobs
• NESDC: Thai Economic Performance in Q2 and the Outlook for 2026 (PDF)
• NESDC: Forthcoming Releases (PDF)
• IMF: World Economic Outlook, October 2026, Resilience Under Strain, Urgent Choices
• AP via NBC Bay Area: IMF says AI boom driving world growth, but warns it's a 'slow-moving tsunami' for jobs