Critics are concerned that AI risks becoming the latest buzzword exploited by state agencies to justify billion-baht budget requests for AI projects, and could become a new avenue for budget corruption.
As Thailand adopts artificial intelligence (AI), IT specialists warn some government agencies developing AI projects may repeat the mistakes of the app development era, when huge budgets were spent on digital projects that allegedly delivered little benefit to the public.Critics are concerned that AI risks becoming the latest buzzword exploited by state agencies to justify requests for billion-baht budgets to develop projects, which could become a new avenue for budget corruption.
Instead, Thailand needs stronger AI governance, transparent procurement, and an outcome-based evaluation approach to prevent AI projects from becoming another taxpayer-funded "digital graveyard".
According to a Digital Government Development Agency website that lists details on government spending, in fiscal 2025 there were 804 AI projects valued at 1.4 billion baht, and in fiscal 2026 there are 685 AI projects valued at roughly 737 million baht.
Why does transparency on these AI projects matter?
