AI may become the new backbone of Thai investing, says Watanya

As technology rapidly reshapes the financial world, artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just a supporting tool but is emerging as a new layer of infrastructure that could remove long-standing barriers for Thai retail investors.

Watanya Bunnag, co-chief executive officer of Liberator Securities, said at the AI Revolution Shift 2026: Shaking the Global Economy seminar organised by Bangkokbiznews on Tuesday (March 31) that Thailand’s investment landscape still reflects a clear inequality in access.

While around 80% of the population holds savings accounts, equivalent to roughly 55-60 million accounts, the number of investment accounts remains below 4 million, or just 6% of the population, she pointed out.

Compared with developed markets, South Korea has an investor participation rate of more than 40%, while the figure in the United States stands at around 50-60%. This, she said, shows that many Thais still have limited access to personal wealth creation and continue to rely more on saving than investing, which may not be enough to keep pace with inflation over the long term.

Watanya said there are two main reasons many Thais still hesitate to invest. The first is that investing is often seen as difficult and distant, leaving many people unsure where to begin and choosing instead to keep their money in savings accounts. 

The second is information overload. Although data is widely available, much of it is not filtered or tailored to individual needs, making it harder for people to make investment decisions with confidence.

AI could help close that gap by making investing more accessible to everyone, she said. On the business side, AI is already being used in back-office functions such as document processing, identity verification, credit analysis and customer data analysis to design products and services that better match client needs.

For retail investors, Liberator is developing AI-driven features to improve the investment experience and plans to launch three main functions this year. 

These include screening news and information relevant to each user’s portfolio, providing signals on appropriate trading timing, and offering a system that monitors and automatically rebalances portfolios to help investors manage their holdings more efficiently.

“Although mathematical models have long been used by institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals, the arrival of AI will make these tools far more accessible to ordinary people,” she said.

“However, the goal of AI is not to make every decision on behalf of humans, but to help build confidence and deepen understanding so that investors can ultimately make their own decisions.”

Watanya said the wider adoption of AI in finance still faces major challenges, particularly the lack of clear regulatory guidance from authorities. As a result, development and deployment are still being handled on a case-by-case basis. 

The public sector is therefore expected to accelerate the creation of regulatory frameworks and enabling infrastructure so that private companies can move forward more fully, she said.

She also warned of the risks of AI being misused, including the use of fake voices or images to deceive the public. For that reason, she said public understanding of AI must be strengthened, with both the state and the private sector working together to educate people while also using AI to detect irregularities and prevent fraud.

Watanya said in closing that the adoption of AI in the financial system is not only about technological progress, but also a major opportunity to raise financial literacy in Thailand. 

If effective tools can be combined with stronger investor understanding, she said, AI could help reduce inequality and create more sustainable long-term financial security, she concluded.