The government should pay more attention to the development of metaverse as a potential technology to revitalize Thailand’s economy, says the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).
According to Jinanggoon Rojananan, Deputy Secretary General of the NESDC, the Metaverse is playing an increasingly important role in the way people live and is changing the way business is conducted.
“The metaverse can open up new opportunities for Thailand to help rehabilitate the Thai economy. It supports creativity, the digital economy, tourism and medical services,” she said.
The Metaverse is an enhanced form of communication or human interaction that moves from traditional websites or apps to interactions between people that are closer to the real world, or converts the experience of real interactions into a digital format.
For healthcare, Ms. Jinanggoon said the metaverse can be used for treatment, learning, communication or work that improves remote working patterns. It also makes users feel like they’re with their colleagues, like they’re working in a real office, she said.
Ms Jinanggoon cited research from Bloomberg Intelligence, which forecasts the Metaverse market to be worth US$780 billion by 2024, up from US$480 billion in 2020, while Goldman Sachs sees the Metaverse as an 8th global opportunity trillions of US dollars.
“For Thailand, the metaverse is a technology that can support the country’s development, such as creative industries and digital economy, and boost target industries under the 13th National Economic and Social Development Plan for 2023-2027,” she said .
Ms. Jinanggoon suggested that because of the high cost of access devices, the government would provide opportunities for Thais and businesses to have full Metaverse access. Most areas of the company are not yet very competent in terms of technology.
Also, Thai people’s digital skills are not yet good enough, she said.
The number of IT professionals in Thailand is still limited, while demand in the IT field is expected to continue to grow over the next 5-10 years.
In addition, the metaverse requires high-speed internet for an instant and continuous response, but Thailand’s 5G coverage areas are not yet nationwide, Ms Jinanggoon said.
She said that since the Metaverse is an open system that allows users around the world to participate in collaborative and concurrent activities, a clear law governing the system is needed. Regulatory and legal controls should be clear, but only apply in Thailand, Ms Jinanggoon said.
“Transactions on the Metaverse require digital assets, but Thailand has not yet determined which digital assets can be used to pay for goods and services,” she said. “Also, users demand that data security is guaranteed and they need to take care to avoid data loss.”
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