The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) has set aside a 5-billion-baht budget to develop 17,500 highly skilled workers within five years to serve three strategic sectors: semiconductors, electric vehicles (EVs) and artificial intelligence (AI).
The ministry aims to attract more than 100 billion baht of foreign and domestic investment to these industries.
"The ministry is driving the country's innovation-based economy by building a highly skilled workforce to attract investment in the EV, AI and semiconductor industries," said caretaker MHESI Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi at "Ignite Thailand's Brain Power", held recently by the Program Management Unit for Human Resources & Institutional Development, Research and Innovation (PMU-B).
Ms Supamas said the prime minister reshuffle would not affect the budget for training a highly skilled workforce.
Sompong Klaynongsruang, director of PMU-B, said the unit's plans to develop Thailand's workforce are in line with MHESI's policies.
She said PMU-B designed the budget of 5 billion baht to develop a workforce of 17,500 highly skilled people from 2025 to 2029, of which 9,500 are in the semiconductor industry, 3,600 the EV industry and 4,400 the AI sector.
In fiscal 2025, the agency plans to spend 1 billion baht on developing 1,900 people for the semiconductor industry, 720 for the EV industry and 880 for AI.
"We aim to attract foreign and domestic investment in these three sectors worth more than 100 billion baht," said Mrs Sompong.
She said these sectors need data analytic experts, software and cybersecurity engineers, battery system engineers, environmental and sustainability specialists, and climate change technologists.
These are high-income jobs, with the salary of an AI engineer estimated at US$131,189, a software engineer $115,641, a data scientist $113,716, an AI developer $107,249, a data engineer $104,153, and a data analyst $83,888.
PMU-B joined hands with five strategic organisations to build a highly skilled workforce through co-funding, joint curriculum development and co-teaching in the short, medium and long term, said Mrs Sompong.
The unit also outlined a comprehensive strategy to support the development of the three targeted industries, including short-term initiatives such as reskilling, upskilling and training programmes.
In the medium term, the agency will focus on supporting a new generation of researchers at the post-doctorate and post-graduate levels, she said.
In the long term, it will leverage the Thailand Academy of Sciences to cultivate highly skilled researchers, said Mrs Sompong.
Thanachart Numnonda, executive director of the IMC Institute, a research and tech training institution, said technological disruption has caused private organisations, particularly in the electronics and automotive industries, to struggle with adapting to the change.
This shift led to job cuts, revenue declines and factory relocations to other countries, said Mr Thanachart.
"We have computer science graduates, but there is still a shortage of qualified individuals," he said.
Thailand needs to retrain or reskill its workforce to keep pace with these changes, said Mr Thanachart.
As the country has an ageing population, with people extending their retirement age, their skills may become outdated, he said.
"Careers now have a shorter lifespan," Mr Thanachart said.
He emphasised the need to equip various careers with AI knowledge to enhance productivity and develop a foundation for AI builders.
Sirirurg Songsivilai, chairman of the National Commission on Science, Research and Innovation, said Thailand has opportunities to build a highly skilled workforce through collaboration with the private sector.
Wilert Puriwat, dean of Chulalongkorn University, said the new workforce requires well-rounded skills and lifelong learning.
Teachers should be "inspirers" rather than mere readers and demonstrators. Learners need to be visionary, possessing a broad and deep perspective, with a disruptive mindset, said Mr Wilert.
He said workforce development plans must align with educational strategies to address skill gaps. Thai educational institutions can attract international students while cultivating highly capable talent for export.
