Unboxing Thailand’s Startup Ecosystem: The Next Chapter Towards Decentralisation of Innovations

Abstract

This article reviews the evolution of startup ecosystem development in Thailand from the early 2010s to the beginning of 2020s. We summarise our findings and provide critical analyses about the innovation development in Thailand, using internal and external sources of information about Thailand’s innovation strategies, policies, and case studies. We also include macro-level national policies and changes in the government that affect the foundation of Thailand’s startup ecosystem, including the mechanisms that drive the growth of the ecosystem. We argue for the decentralisation of innovation policies and ecosystems to help navigate through new challenges and uncertainties, for the recovery of socio-economic factors. Different types and examples of startups that are key to the decentralisation of innovations in Thailand are also explained and illustrated. Impediments and caveats of innovation ecosystem development in Thailand are discussed, pointing the directions for future research.