Golden
sandy beaches. Great food. Martial arts. Technology?
Thailand
hosted its largest ever tech conference over the weekend, a nod to the
country's growing pool of entrepreneurs.
The
Techsauce Summit was the first of its kind held over the weekend in Bangkok,
drawing an estimated 3,000 people, including representatives from companies
large and small, as well as venture capitalists. The major themes centered
around financial technology, or fintech, and the country's buoyant e-commerce
market.
"There
is a very influential crowd here, a lot of amazing local leaders, and a lot
internationally focused companies with global reach that can help connect the
dots between Thailand, Southeast Asia and the globe," Ben King, country
head of Google Thailand, told CNBC following his presentation entitled,
"The Digital Opportunity in Thailand and Southeast Asia."
The
conference was organized by Hubba, a co-working community in Thailand and
Digital Ventures, a newly launched subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank, one of
Thailand's largest banks. In April, Digital Ventures said it plans to invest
and support the nation's start-ups, with a particular interest in fintech.
"Four
years ago, no one knew what a start-up was in Thailand and now here we have
this major tech conference," Charle Charoenphan, co-founder of Techsauce.
"The
government needs a new toy for economic growth and thinks start-ups might be the
answer," he added.
Southeast
Asia is the fastest growing internet region in the world, with nearly four
million new internet users being added every month, according to a research
report by Temasek and Google issued in May.
By 2025,
its internet economy is expected to be a $200 billion opportunity, according to
the report.
The large
majority of start-ups are based in Singapore though, with the city-state
housing nearly 80 percent of the start-ups in the region, according to some
experts.
But
entrepreneurs in Thailand are hoping to change that.
For one,
Thailand's larger population makes it appealing. Thailand's nearly 70 million
residents are far in excess of the population in Singapore, which has fewer
than six million residents. Where Singapore has an edge is the ease of entry
for foreign investment and high purchasing power.
Charoenphan,
however, says Thailand should be of interest particularly to bootstrapped
start-ups, given its relatively low cost of living. "With the money a
start-up raises in Silicon Valley, a start-up that can normally stay there for
six months, can stay here for three years," he predicted. "They
extend their run rate by six to ten times just by moving."
Start-ups
can even multiply their run rate several times by taking the two-hour flight
from Singapore to Bangkok and shifting operations, he noted.
"When
other people come, they realize we have a good start-up scene here,"
Charoenphan said. "They become really interested in actually investing or
launching a start-up here."
Charoenphan
thinks Thailand's biggest growth opportunities are in healthcare, travel and
agriculture. Still, 40 percent of its population works in agriculture-related
jobs. Other challenges persist as well.
The main
hurdle for outsiders is the need to localize products, which is ultimately
helping fuel homegrown start-ups, while prompting foreign companies to take on
new views of their existing offerings.
"I
think localization should come together to really drive the ecosystems,"
Google's King said. "We make sure when people get online, they have a
great experience and we're making sure we're heavily localized in all of our
products."
He notes
a particular trend taking place among e-commerce operators in Thailand, where
people are buying through chat apps, where consumers bargain directly with a
seller, a term often referred to as "conversational commerce".
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