EqualOcean was invited to participate Tuya Innovation Roundtable（Asia Pacific）to see the changes in the Internet of Things in real life. The location of this activity is in Thailand which is a potential and crucial country in south-east Asia.
EqualOcean was invited to participate Tuya Innovation Roundtable（Asia Pacific）to see the changes in the Internet of Things in real life. The location of this activity is in Thailand which is a potential and crucial country in south-east Asia. Over the past few years, Thailand has progressively emerged as a prominent Southeast Asian hub for IoT and smart home innovation backed by enabling factors such as supportive policies, digital infrastructure expansion, skilled workforce availability, and large-scale manufacturing presence. A pivotal transition phase began post-2022 which saw the country graduate from sporadic pilot programs towards widespread commercialization of IoT solutions across its major economic pillars like manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics. Concurrently, Thailand's smart home market also started gaining formidable momentum driven by nationwide 5G rollout, smart city initiatives, and rising consumer prosperity.
Leading the charge in catalyzing this progression has been the strategic involvement of technology companies and enterprises establishing local innovation centers plus programs to tap prevailing opportunities. Global IoT developer service provider Tuya Smart is a case in point, becoming a global pioneer since 2014 in offering open IoT development services. Tuya also has cooperated with Telkom, Indonesia's largest telecommunications group, to promote the implementation of IoT products and services. In view of the difficulty in controlling the power consumption of smart products and the existence of information gaps between the power grid and other situations, Tuya has also created a home energy management system to provide homeowners with, energy installers, operators, and brands provide energy collection management, energy-saving optimization, load dispatching, construction operation and maintenance management and other tools to help Thai users start a new smart + energy-saving life model.
At the core of Tuya's offerings lies its proprietary IoT cloud technology facilitating seamless connection of diverse smart devices regardless of underlying infrastructure or protocols used. This has empowered hundreds of Thai SME manufacturers, agritech firms, and building product businesses to expeditiously introduce connected product lines post-2022 leveraging Tuya's platform.
Another major contributor is T3 Technology, a deep tech startup founded in 2016 focused on developing industrial IoT offerings. Headquartered in Bangkok with a team of over 50 engineers, T3 has actively contributed innovations accelerating various sectors' digital shifts through products like FactoryOS - a pioneering cloud-based Manufacturing Execution Software customized for Thai industries post-2022.
Kevin Guo, deputy general manager of T3 Technology, introduced the necessity of network connection, "Fast and complete network infrastructure is necessary, which will ensure the smooth operation of the IoT smart home ecosystem. Through T3 Technology's "Own the Household" concept, With the home network as the center, we integrate the whole-house intelligent ecosystem to provide users with the ultimate network experience and a fully integrated, all-scenario user experience. In the future, we will join hands with Tuya to provide smoother networks for users in more countries and regions. Intelligent products with more advanced technology provide users with more economical, convenient, and intelligent integrated solutions, making it easier for users to enjoy the huge changes brought about by technology and a better life."
Beyond industrial implementations, T3 has additionally ventured into smart home technologies via the 'Minda' platform unveiled in late 2022. Minda features centralized home management capabilities via a mobile app supporting the integration of smart lighting, security cameras, door locks, thermostats, and other IoT devices seamlessly irrespective of brand. The platform emphasizes component modularity and open ecosystem participation models. It has gained swift popularity among Thai consumers embracing new-age smart living trends. T3's balanced innovation approach catering to both Industry 4.0 and residential segments illustrates its vision of driving transformation on a wider social plane.
SCG, another major presence as a chemical conglomerate and one of Thailand's largest firms, has stringently pursued digital strategies within expansive operations involving several industries since late 2022. It introduced the 'Mind' smart home brand that year delivering Thai households an integrated connected suite including smart lighting, security cameras, and audio systems controlled through a single app interface.
Mr. Apirut Vancha-am, Chief Digital Officer of SCG, told EualOcean that the company must accept its weaknesses， it doesn't have the scale it wanted， but the board came within knowledge. Secondly, they are not yet highly developed countries， so right now between creativity design and technology, Mr. Apirut thinks they have a good hope on the creative inside, then combine this strength with their good strategy, and the weaknesses will eventually be solved.
Powered by an open IoT architecture, Mind merchandise is engineered as well as assembled at SCG facilities supporting third-party integrations. Within its first year, Mind emerged as one of the kingdom's most in-demand smart ecosystems with over 100,000 devices sold through SCG's pervasive distribution channels nationwide signaling a roaring reception toward smart living trends. This foray exemplifies how leading Thai enterprises are adeptly leveraging strengths to unlock emerging opportunities arising from IoT and smart homes, further cementing the nation as a pioneer in the region.
By actively exploring niches spanning industrial and residential spheres, companies like Tuya, T3, and SCG act as lynchpins bearing fruits of collaborative innovation benefiting Thailand on the whole. When reinforced by supportive policy frameworks plus infrastructure building, their pioneering efforts have elevated the country to new heights in its IoT journey within ASEAN with prospects of scaling greater heights in the foreseeable future as technologies mature.
The role of ecosystem enablers like incubators and accelerators has also been significant. Programs established by organizations such as the Global Digital Innovation Thailand (GDIT) Hub, Microsoft Thailand, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have nurtured numerous local startups working in these domains by offering infrastructure, mentorship support, networking platforms, and seed funding avenues. Technology parks and special economic zones across Thailand like the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) plus R&D clusters concentrated in Bangkok have provided conducive living lab environments empowering innovations to blossom.
When transferring technologies for Thai market relevance, companies have customized offerings factoring in aspects ranging from prevalent connectivity landscapes to unique preferences among regional consumers. An illustrative instance involves translating user interfaces into local languages enabling intuitive eldercare service rollouts. Concurrently, public-private skilling initiatives evaluating changing occupational profiles have trained sizable workforce pools triggering 'smart' career transitions across industries.
Deeper analyses of thriving application areas beyond factories like smart healthcare leveraging telemedicine platforms, climate-resilient precision agriculture models plus intelligent utility infrastructures optimizing distribution networks hint at the multifaceted IoT progress taking root. The Thai government has also introduced regulations guiding seamless interoperability aspects such as national frameworks for secured data sharing alongside 5G spectrums allocation pragmatically spurring widespread connectivity penetration.
Consumer IoT behavioral patterns observed so far point towards emerging segments increasingly embracing holistic smart home ecosystems centered on enhanced convenience and security. Regional brands appear gaining traction along with global names as purchasing habits evolve accordingly. Thailand's role in ASEAN consortiums facilitating solutions co-development and scaled replication across the 600 million+ regional population base aids in furthering expertise dissemination.
Nascent potentially large opportunity arenas for IoT deployment in the near future involve smart cities envisioning sustainable living through digitalization, electric mobility networks, plus digital finance infrastructure optimizing everyday transactions leveraging ubiquitous high-speed 5G connectivity slated to cover most Thai regions soon.