Thailand An IT Profile

The People About 65 million people, median age 30 yrs.(of 71) –93% are Buddhists (75% Thai) –4% are Muslims (mostly in south) Thais are very friendly* to foreigners and are extremely tolerant. Bangkok’s reputation as a sex tourism magnet is undeserved and an anomaly; most Thais are more puritanical than not. * One common saying among foreigners is that the Thais have 20 different smiles, but only one of them is friendly!

Ethnic Groups About 4/5 of the population is ethnic Thai About 1/5 of the population is ethnic Chinese, but there is a great deal of intermarriage with the Thai population. Muslim Malays live mostly in the southern peninsula There are numerous rural and mostly poor hill tribes in the north. Europeans are common sights as tourists and retirees.

Languages Everyone speaks Thai; literacy is 96%. The Thais emphasize education. English is a required course now in schools. In Bangkok almost everyone speaks some English; many are studying it in schools. Historically, English is the third language of the political elite Thai has its own alphabet consisting of about 80 characters, some taken from Sanskrit Cantonese is spoken by much of the business community

Geography Thailand is in SE Asia enveloped by Myanmar (Burma), Laos and Cambodia. It’s a tropical country, but the north is hilly and can be cool in winter. Bangkok is the capital and major city (about 10 million people). There are few other large cities other than Chiang Mai (200,000). The northeastern corner is part of the “Golden Triangle” made famous by drug smuggling.

Geography Asia Equator Tropic of Cancer Myanmar Laos Cambodia Malaysia China Bangkok South China Sea CIA Factbook

History Ethnic Thais migrated from China about 3500 years ago. Thailand has had a central government for 900 years, centered in Bangkok for only 100 years. Britain is widely admired in Thailand, especially the British Royal Family.

History Thailand was never colonized; it maintained equality with France, Britain.Over the centuries, Thailand has fought wars extensively with Cambodia and Burma and is effectively still at war with Myanmar over the northern border and drug smuggling. Thais are very nationalistic; despite a history of internal conflict, they are very supportive of their own country.

Government Thailand has experimented with democracy. It is officially a constitutional monarchy. The King is widely admired and deserves it. He is a symbol of national unity as well as an accomplished composer. In the most recent election (only the second in the latest series of democratic elections), amid many proven cases of fraud, Mr. Thaksin, a computer and communications mogul, was elected for the ThaiRakThai (“Thais love Thais”) party. Coindicentally, Thaksin is the name of the first recorded Thai king who ruled the unified country.

Politics Thais love politics and practice it physically (Kick boxing is a Thai sport) Current leading party is a coalition of anti- former-coalition parties King is rallying point, stabilizing what is otherwise in Asia a very unstable undertaking (I.e., government). There is corruption everywhere, however.

Economy Thailand is one of the Asian “tigers.” Unemployment is 2%; ½ employees in agriculture The economy relies on exports of food, electronics Tourism is very important. Market is “free”, but controlled by a small number of families GDP/capita is about $7400; Gini is 41.4 Trading partners are US, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China

Business and Culture Thailand is a hierarchical society A major cultural value is avoiding conflict Another is not losing face Thais do not normally care much for western style business values or ethics But they are highly ethical nonetheless Thailand is not a western country; it has its own unique culture!culture

IT Local industry is into assembling. Thai alphabet is different from Latin one, necessitating local application development Thailand has well developed electronics industries There are many good universities, several of world class quality. Thais are all learning English and value learning in general

IT Computers and transistors are a major export Infrastructure for e-commerce is available and growing (banking, credit cards, checking, laws for private property), 65,000 mi of paved roads Most IT is associated with Bangkok There are at least 23 million phones, with wireless growing at a high rate. The Prime Minister is the owner of media and communication companies Widespread corruption public and private is a hinderance to business. 100,000 Internet hosts, 5 million+ users.

Locating IT Business Outsourcing: Not a good idea; availability of talent is not high except in Bangkok Production: Could be useful for production of software for Thailand alone, but language problems abound Marketing: Requires Thai-language products which are not easily sold outside Thailand

Links and Predictions For more information on Thailand, consult these links: There is reason to believe that Thailand will always harbor a small indigenous software development industry, but in the main, the basic industry will be assembly of components. The country doesn’t have the force of unity that Singapore has for national planning or the wealth of human resources that India has nor the fortune of location of Ireland.

Some Thai Links Shopping Business News (in Thai, of course) Who knows? A Great Hotel in Bangkok (Great buffet)A Great Hotel in Bangkok A Wonderful Hotel in Bangkok (Great location)A Wonderful Hotel in Bangkok