Category: The Bangkok Post

The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) has joined forces with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to promote the certification of local Internet of Things (IoT) and service robotics industries with the former’s P-mark label.

The initiative aims to enhance consumer confidence, pave the way for product exports to Southeast Asian markets, and strengthen Thailand’s technological sovereignty.

“By having the country’s own capability in emerging technologies, it will change the game in terms of embracing science and technology to drive economic growth and social development, overcoming constraints of workforces and capital,” said NSTDA president Sukit Limpijumnong.

To elevate Thailand’s service robotics and IoT product industries, NSTDA receives financial support from the NBTC’s Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for Public Interest to nurture developers and entrepreneurs in the field.

The service robotics and IoT products with high-quality standards earn the P-mark, a performance certification that serves not only as a domestic quality assurance but also as a powerful passport for Thai innovations.

Mr Sukit said that receiving the P-mark affirms that local robotics and IoT products’ quality, performance, and reliability are on par with regional and global standards.

He added that the emergence of strong Deep Tech companies with the P-mark certification will attract investment, create high-value jobs, and elevate the economic structure beyond traditional manufacturing.

This will position the country as a true hub of technology and innovation in the region, said Mr Sukit.

Once entrepreneurs obtain the P-mark, they can further enhance their capabilities, gaining valuable experience that serves as a shortcut to applying for international standards certification, facilitating exports to markets in the US and Europe, he added.

Kraisorn Anchaleeworaphan, director of the Electrical and Electronic Products Testing Center (PTEC), under NSTDA, said the funding of 20 million baht from NBTC over three years allows PTEC to expand standards testing in emerging technology, in particular service robots and IoT.

Under this project, 10 entrepreneurs have developed innovations in service robotics and IoT, while 11 entrepreneurs have undergone quality testing and received the P-mark certification from PTEC.

“This project has established a platform to promote and support entrepreneurs in developing innovations and undergoing product certification for service robotics and IoT. It marks the first structured certification system based on international standards in the region,” said Mr Kraisorn.

Mr Kraisorn said PTEC will expand to test smart farming using IoT or artificial intelligence on edge devices, as well as electric wheelchairs.

“We have a lot of robotic uses in daily life. Thailand needs to have mandatory standards rather than voluntary-based ones in order to control non-standard electronic products that harm the lives of users,” he said.

In the next 5-6 years, various home robotics and industries will gain the momentum that Thailand needs to have its own standard to protect local products’ competitiveness, safety and cybersecurity, he said.

Panita Meananeatra, a researcher at the Software Quality Testing Laboratory, or SQUAT, under NSTDA, said it plans to test three key areas — artificial intelligence, medical devices, and biometrics.

While PTEC gives the P-mark to hardware devices, SQUAT does so for software.

At the heart of Asia’s vibrant film scene, the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) once again shone as a global stage for creativity and cultural exchange – with Hylife Group joining the red carpet as sponsor of the ‘Hylife Vision Award.’ The company’s participation reaffirmed its dedication to nurturing artistic innovation and supporting the international film industry.

The Hylife Vision Award is presented to two films that demonstrate outstanding vision, creativity and bold storytelling, offering fresh perspectives that powerfully reflect social, cultural and human themes. This year, the awardees are Tiger from Japan, directed by Anshul Chauhan, and If on a Winter’s Night from India, directed by Sanju Surendran. The award aims to inspire emerging filmmakers worldwide to push the boundaries of traditional storytelling and cinematic techniques.

The award presentation was graced by Mr Dhanush R. Nair, Co-Group CEO of Hylife Group, who represented the company in presenting the awards and walking the red carpet, alongside Mrs Pola Mazumdar Nair, Non-Executive Director, amid applause and congratulations from entertainment industry figures and international guests.

Mr Shubhodeep Prasanta Das, Chairman of Hylife Group, stated, ‘Participating in and supporting the Hylife Vision Award at the Busan International Film Festival marks a significant step for Hylife Group in promoting creative vision and supporting the film industry. Being part of an international film platform allows us to encourage inspiration.’

The event also welcomed high-level representatives from Grenada, including Ambassador Dr Richard A. Nixon, Senior Resident Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Grenada, and Mr Cory Francis Zufelt, Chairman of Zute Group Ltd, who attended as distinguished guests of Hylife Group.

This year, Hylife Group is proud to be a key sponsor of the festival, not only presenting the Hylife Vision Award but also supporting the Asian Cinema Fund (ACF) to drive sustainable development in the global film industry. This reflects Hylife Group’s increasingly prominent role in connecting Asia with the international film community.

Bangkok police arrested eight suspects including six foreign men, a Thai woman and a Myanmar woman at a barber shop on Nana Road (Sukhumvit Soi 3) where they said narcotics were available.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau said that while strolling on Nana Road at 11pm on Wednesday, plainclothes officers were greeted by two foreign men who offered them ‘a single snort that will bring you to a pyramid peak’.

The foreigners then brought the undercover policemen to a barber shop on the top floor of a five-storey building on Nana Road. They were taken to a secret room where the suspects showed them pills priced at 2,000 baht each.

Bangkok police chief Pol Lt Gen Sayam Boonsom was monitoring the sting operation remotely and ordered their arrest.

The suspects included six men aged between 21 and 41: two Pakistanis, and one each from Egypt, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Thai woman was 50 and the other Myanmar national was 40.

Police found four sachets of methamphetamine weighing 3.3 grammes in total; two sachets of cocaine weighing 1.7g, two speed pills, four ecstasy pills, seven packs of magic mushroom, 23 hookahs, 55 boxes of snuff, 125 packs of smuggled cigarettes, three bank passbooks and 125,000 baht in cash.

Three suspects were charged with trafficking drugs. The Pakistani was found to be working illegally as a barber. Others were charged with illegal entry, overstaying or having banned products.

The Koh Phangan Hotel and Tourism Association has sought cooperation from a local religious leader to encourage Israeli tourists to respect Thai laws and local customs amid rising tensions on the island.

Naruemon Maisopa, president of the association, said on Wednesday she had met Dovber Deutsch, head of the Chabad Centre, to discuss ways to promote better understanding and responsible behaviour among Israeli visitors.

The meeting followed growing online criticism of Israeli tourists’ conduct. She said Rabbi Deutsch agreed to work with the association to issue notices in Hebrew and English, to be displayed in hotels, restaurants, cafés and public places, reminding visitors to act respectfully and in compliance with the law.

Ms Naruemon said the association supports strict enforcement of business regulations for foreigners to ensure fair competition and boost state tax revenue. She added rapid tourism growth has strained infrastructure, with more than 500 accommodation sites and over 8,000 rooms on the island.

Meanwhile, Pol Col Naruwat Phuttawiro, Surat Thani Immigration chief, said that between January and September, 2,711 Israelis entered via Samui Airport, ranked 12th in terms of foreign visitors to the island. The top three foreign visitors are Australians (26,268), British (19,120), and Germans (14,048).

Authorities have since arrested more than 20 Israeli nationals for offences including illegal business operations, counterfeit currency use, and visa violations.

He said immigration officers, in coordination with security agencies, are tightening checks on foreign property and business ownership.

“These efforts aim to maintain public confidence and ensure a safe and lawful environment,” he said.

Student Care Co Ltd, the pioneer of Thailand’s leading all-in-one school management and student welfare system, is transforming the nation’s education landscape with its smart and sustainable school platform.

Supported by the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), the company recently represented Thailand’s ed-tech innovation sector at Expand North Star 2025, one of the world’s largest tech and startup exhibitions, which is held alongside GITEX Global 2025 in Dubai.

Developed entirely by Thai engineers, the Student Care platform is recognised as Thailand’s No.1 all-in-one ed-tech and green school platform.

Featuring more than 70 integrated modules, it addresses real challenges faced by teachers, students and parents, ranging from administrative management and communication to AI-powered analytics that support evidence-based decisions.

“Our goal is to help Thai schools transition into smart and sustainable schools using digital tools that streamline operations and promote equitable learning,” said Somporn Pukittivarangoon, chief executive of Student Care.

Founded 12 years ago, the 100% Thai-owned company connects educators, administrators, students, and families via a single intelligent platform.

“Our platform is designed not only for students but also for teachers,” Mr Somporn noted.

“By using the Student Care platform daily, teachers can manage tasks efficiently while developing digital skills and confidence in technology.”

One of Student Care’s flagship solutions is its intelligent AI camera system, developed in-house to enhance safety and efficiency.

Capable of recognising up to 30 faces simultaneously, it allows instant check-in and check-out while sending real-time notifications to teachers and parents via the company’s Student Messenger app.

“This innovation improves safety, communication, and reduces teachers’ workload, reflecting our mission to combine technology with empathy, AI that cares with heart,” said Mr Somporn.

The platform was first piloted at Samsenwittayalai School, whose feedback helped refine the system’s features such as the student screening system.

Today, more than 400 schools across Thailand, of which 80% are public and 20% private, use the Student Care platform, with over 600,000 students logging in daily.

The system enables more effective care and closer monitoring of each student’s wellbeing and learning progress, Mr Somporn said.

Student Care operates on a subscription-based model, with annual fees determined by student numbers.

In 2024, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand invested in the company to support its growth.

The company reported strong growth of 25-30% in 2025, driven by wider adoption of its all-in-one school management and student welfare platform.

Student Care is targeting another 25-30% revenue increase, expansion to over 500 schools, and more than 750,000 users next year. Its goal is to reach 1 million students on the platform by 2027, advancing Thailand’s move toward smart and sustainable education.

Through its corporate social responsibility programme — Step Forward Together — the company provides free access to its platform for small rural schools with fewer than 200 students.

Once the project reaches full implementation, it will impact more than 2 million students nationwide.

The DITP’s support has been pivotal to Student Care’s global expansion. Participation in the Expand North Star 2025 event allowed Student Care to showcase Thai-developed technology to the world and seek new international partnerships.

The initiative aligns with the DITP’s Thai Tech to Global Market campaign, which promotes “Tech Thailand” as a hub for innovation and empowers local startups to expand internationally.

Student Care’s innovations align with Thailand’s Digital Education 5.0 policy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, creating a measurable impact by enhancing education quality through AI-driven analytics, reducing inequality through support for rural schools, and promoting sustainability by cutting paper use by over 90%.

“By bringing our green school platform to the international stage, we aim to show how Thai innovation can advance sustainable education and improve lives,” Mr Somporn said.

The company is now developing AI Guardian School, a new module designed to assess students’ behaviour and emotional wellbeing.

The system will detect early signs of stress, attention deficit, or gaming and gambling addictions, enabling timely intervention and proactive care.

POSITIVE MINDSET

Currently employing over 100 staff, including 21 developers, 8 technical specialists, 22 customer service officers, and 32 salespeople, Student Care fosters a culture of trust and innovation.

“When recruiting, we look for people with a positive mindset,” Mr Somporn said. “Skills can be developed, but attitude and integrity are the foundation of long-term success.”

With a cloud-based system, partnerships in the Philippines, and plans for an initial public offering in early 2027, Student Care aims to lead Thailand’s ed-tech revolution toward a smarter and more sustainable future.

GITEX Global 2025, the world’s largest technology and AI showcase, got underway on Oct 13 and ends tomorrow. The event, which is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, highlights breakthroughs in biotechnology, physical AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, and data centres.

The event features more than 6,800 tech enterprises and 2,000 startups from 180 countries.

Expand North Star 2025, which was held alongside GITEX Global 2025 at Dubai Harbour, came to a close yesterday. The event connected 2,000 startups with 1,200 investors.

The Thai Industries Sentiment Index (TISI) rose for the first time in seven months to 87.8 points in September, thanks to the speedy establishment of the new government and promising policies to deal with economic woes, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

The indicator tallied 86.4 points in August, the lowest level recorded since June 2022.

The Anutin Charnvirakul government spent less than a month to form a new cabinet after his predecessor Paetongtarn Shinawatra was dismissed as the prime minister by the Constitutional Court on Aug 29 for an ethics violation.

The new government has launched many policies to retore the economy, boosting confidence among businesses, said Apichit Prasoprat, vice-chairman of the FTI.

He applauded the Finance Ministry’s measure to help small and medium-sized enterprises gain better access to financial sources.

“This measure significantly enhanced liquidity for business operators,” said Mr Apichit.

The increase in the TISI in September was attributed to higher exports of agricultural and electronic products, especially to the Malaysian, Vietnamese and Taiwanese markets, he said.

Domestic sales of electric vehicles continued to increase this month, driven partly by the BIG Motor Sale 2025, a 10-day car event that ended on Aug 31.

Foreign direct investment also showed a positive trend, after the January to August period, it rose by 125% year-on-year to 225.5 billion baht, said Mr Apichit.

In September, besides the negative impact of baht appreciation on exports, agricultural output was adversely affected by heavy monsoon rains and flooding in many provinces, disrupting raw material supplies for the agricultural and food processing industries, he said.

The September TISI was based on a survey of 1,356 entrepreneurs across 47 industry clubs under the FTI. Domestic economic conditions topped the list of their concerns, gaining the votes of 66.8%, followed by government policies (54.6%) and loan access (30.3%).

Global economic uncertainties were on the top of respondents’ growing concerns with the votes of 62.4%, followed by foreign exchange rate fluctuations (47.4%).

A 69-year-old blind German man sat waiting for his wife at their home in Chachoengsao, unaware that she had taken her own life inside until a neighbour arrived on Tuesday evening.

Police were called to the two-storey house in Khlong Udom Chonlachon at 6.30pm on Tuesday, where they found the body of a 53-year-old Thai woman who had hanged herself. Her husband, blind in both eyes due to a car accident, was sitting at a table outside.

A neighbour told police the couple had rented the house for over a year. The woman worked as a taxi driver in Bangkok for two to three days at a time, preparing meals for her husband before leaving. The neighbour would check in and cook for him if she was away for longer.

On the day of the incident, the husband called out, asking the neighbour to turn on the house lights. When the lights came on, the woman’s body was discovered.

The husband told police his wife had returned home that morning distressed after a traffic accident. The other party was demanding 40,000 baht in compensation, which the couple did not have.

Officials visited the home on Wednesday to assess the man’s situation and found his visa had expired. He has lived in Thailand for 16 years on a German pension.

The man said he wishes to remain in Thailand. Authorities will contact his relatives. Meanwhile, neighbours continue to provide him with meals and care.

The filling of the huge sinkhole on Bangkok’s Samsen Road will require much more sand that earlier thought because it’s getting bigger, according to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority.

The MRTA said on Wednesday the original sinkhole was 30 metres wide, 30m long and 20m deep, but had since expanded and was still getting bigger.

The initial estimate that about 8,000 cubic metres of sand would be needed to fill it was now not enough.

The sand fill would strengthen the foundation of the damaged Samsen police station building, which would be demolished. It would also speed up the reopening of that section of Samsen Road to traffic in time for the new school semester.

When the fill was complete and the road reopens, the demolition of Samsen police station building could speed up. But it would require partial road closures at times.

By Wednesday the depth of the hole had been reduced to about 4.5 metres. Engineers were closely monitoring adjacent buildings for safety.

The sinkhole formed on Samsen Road in Dusit district, Bangkok, in the morning of Sept 24 above an underground railway station under construction for the Purple Line extension route of the MRTA. The state enterprise blamed the subsidence on the water-saturated, soft soil in the surrounding area.

Three police officers and six civilians were injured, with four badly hurt, when a roadside bomb was detonated in Yi-Ngo district of this southern province on Thursday.

The incident occurred at about 9am on Ram Komut Road where police from the Yi-Ngo station were conducting a patrol by armoured vehicle.

The bomb exploded in front of a tea shop where some local residents were gathering. Three officers and six civilians were injured by the blast.

Four of the civilians were reportedly in serious condition as they were receiving treatment at Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Hospital.

It was believed that insurgents detonated the device remotely when the police patrol arrived at the location.

Forensic and explosive ordnance disposal officials inspected the scene, and the investigation is continuing to track down the culprits.

The mission of the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry is to build the “lifeblood” of the government, referring to government cloud and data systems, says minister Chaichanok Chidchob.

The ministry is also developing decentralisation systems to enhance long-term government security, ensuring service continuity if a centralised system is disrupted, as well as decentralised data security, said Mr Chaichanok at the recent Digital Government Summit 2025 event.

“Digital technology is not just a tool, but also the future infrastructure of the country, enabling the economy, society and government to move forward steadily,” he said.

Mr Chaichanok said the digital economy represents an opportunity for all sectors. The ministry is promoting the Digital Startup AI Sandbox to enable developers to work within a secure ecosystem, including a digital infrastructure for digital trade, and expanding 5G infrastructure to reach every village.

He said the ministry is studying the use of blockchain technology to make government data transparent and verifiable, a foundation for protecting government data on the government data infrastructure.

“We continue to advance the security and flexibility of the government cloud, supporting new technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, and implementing proactive personal data protection systems under the personal data protection law,” said Mr Chaichanok.

He said the ministry recognises successful systems in other countries cannot be implemented in Thailand because every country has limitations and governments have limited time.

As a result, the DES Ministry must gather information and conduct thorough research to lay the foundation.

“Over the next four months, I would like to assure you that the government and I recognise the importance of government systems, not just systems, but also new confidence and national security,” Mr Chaichanok said.

Earlier he said he instructed the Anti Online Scam Operation Center, better known as the AOC 1441 hotline, to develop an electronic dashboard, which he dubbed a “scam intelligence board” to analyse online scams.

The move aligns with his urgent call to upgrade measures to suppress call centres and online scams, aiming to reduce losses among individuals and the economy.

Mr Chaichanok said his three other urgent missions comprise addressing natural and environmental disasters, preventing security threats and solving economic problems.