Budget Debate 2027: Democrat MP “Dr. Oh” dissects three issues, warning ministers not to act only as “chief purchasing officers.” She criticizes wasteful AI budgets lacking a master plan, which could cause Thailand to miss the global technology wave and raises concerns about data falling into foreign capital hands.
At 13:05 on 29 June 2026 GMT+7, Kardee Liao Pyroj, party-list MP of the Democrat Party, delivered a speech opposing the draft budget bill for fiscal year 2027 during a House of Representatives session, stating that this budget draft is a futureless budget that could cause Thailand to fall behind in global technology due to a lack of clear vision and strategy.
1. The budget is fragmented and duplicated. It was found that the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society received a budget of 13.625 billion baht, a 30% increase from last year, accounting for 0.36% of the national budget. However, over 65% of this is concentrated in the Government Data Center Cloud (GDCC) project with an allocation of 5 billion baht. This overlaps with other ministries, including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Health, and Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), which separately lease cloud systems in 55 projects totaling more than 1.53 billion baht. Meanwhile, the total IT budget nationwide is as high as 51 billion baht without a clear blueprint or roadmap, reflecting that each ministry’s leadership acts more like “chief purchasing officers” than national strategists.
2. The AI budget is falsely labeled and misleading. An audit of budgets labeled "Artificial Intelligence (AI)" totaling 2.583 billion baht across 198 items in 91 agencies found that over 90% were classified as investment budgets. However, a closer look reveals the funds are used for building classrooms, purchasing equipment, and constructing buildings rather than investing in AI infrastructure or producing tangible AI outcomes. This is merely a label to obtain budget approval without measurable results.
3. Risk of causing the country to fall behind globally. This government lacks clear answers on five key aspects: national AI infrastructure, data for AI training, private sector integration, workforce skill upgrading, and AI governance.
“We warn that without a solid foundation, Thailand will repeat the crisis seen in e-commerce, where foreign firms destroyed Thai SME structures. Within three years, national data security and AI technology could fall entirely into foreign investors’ hands, leaving Thai people without any benefits. If we fail to establish good infrastructure and strategy today, the lessons from the e-commerce crisis will haunt us repeatedly. We urge all parties to review and correct this futureless budget draft to transform it into an opportunity to drive the country forward together.”