TH-AI Passport draws 1.3 million registrations ahead of AiPASS launch

The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society formally launched the “TH-AI Passport” project during an event held at Centara Life Government Complex Hotel & Convention Centre Chaeng Watthana at 2pm on Friday (August 28, 2026).

Organised by the Office of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission (BDE), the event was chaired by Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaichanok Chidchob and attended by ministry executives, private-sector representatives and technology experts.

Advance registrations had exceeded 1.3 million in less than two weeks since opening on August 19, reflecting strong public interest in accessing and learning about artificial intelligence (AI).

The initiative aims to give up to five million Thai citizens access to more than 30 AI models from leading developers.

The AiPASS platform is due to begin service on August 31.

The ministry said the rapid rise in registrations indicated that people were increasingly ready and willing to enter the AI era.

Registrants included school and university students, workers, entrepreneurs and members of the public from every region of the country.

The central idea is to enable people to choose AI tools suited to their individual needs and apply them in daily life, education, work, livelihoods and business, while using them effectively, safely and responsibly.

The launch also highlighted cooperation among the government, global technology companies and AI networks.

Representatives from Microsoft, Google and NVIDIA attended alongside the Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneur Association of Thailand and technology experts.

They exchanged views on the direction of AI and announced cooperation to extend AI knowledge and skills more widely among people across Thailand.

Chaichanok said AI was rapidly reshaping the economy, labour market, education and public services.

The government therefore needed to accelerate efforts to prepare people to adapt and use the technology appropriately.

This was an important task under the 2022–2027 national AI action plan for Thailand’s development.

The objective was not simply to provide access to new technology, he said.

People and businesses must also be able to use AI to improve efficiency, raise productivity, create business opportunities, develop innovations and maintain the country’s long-term competitiveness.

Data from the Microsoft AI Economy Institute showed that, in the first quarter of 2026, the share of Thailand’s working-age population using generative AI rose to 12.4% from 9.1%, representing growth of 36.4%.

The figures indicated that Thai people were showing significantly greater interest in and use of AI.

However, Thailand’s AI adoption rate remained below the global average of 17.8%.

It was also considerably lower than in countries where the technology was widely used, including Singapore, where the rate stood at 63.4%.

The country’s challenge was therefore not simply to make the technology available, but to ensure that large numbers of people could use it in practice and do so effectively.

“I believe competition between countries in the next era will not be decided by which country has the most advanced technology, but by which country is most successful in equipping its people to use technology. AI will have value only when it is in the hands of people who know how to use it,” he said.

Chaichanok emphasised that more than 1.3 million registrations within only a few days demonstrated that people were ready to learn and grow with the technology.

TH-AI Passport was therefore not merely about enabling people to use AI, he said, but about laying the foundations for a new era in which they could become creators and generate value for the country rather than remain only technology users.

The project’s target groups include school and university students, public-sector personnel, members of the public and entrepreneurs.

It will pursue two areas in parallel: raising AI knowledge and understanding, or AI literacy, and encouraging practical use, or AI adoption.

The approach is intended to align skills with labour-market demand, raise efficiency and productivity, and support the growth of the digital economy.

It aims to move AI beyond experimentation so that it can be used to produce tangible outputs, develop innovations and generate real economic value.

At the centre of the project is AiPASS, which brings together models from more than 14 leading developers.

More than 30 models are available through a single platform, allowing people to select tools suited to their work without registering separately with multiple service providers.

The models cover functions including conversation, programming, deep research and the creation of images, audio and video.

They include GPT-5.6 Sol, o3 Deep Research, Claude Opus 5, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Nano Banana Pro, Lyria 3 Pro, Sonar Reasoning Pro, Seedream 4.0 and Seedance 2.0.

In addition to consolidating AI tools in one place, AiPASS links access to technology with skills development through the “Learn • Earn • Plern” concept.

This combines knowledge and courses from global partners including Google for Education, Microsoft Elevate and the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute.

Users can take AI courses within the system before putting their knowledge into practice by trying the models themselves.

They can accumulate points to unlock access to Pro-level models, progress to Innovator status and receive certificates after completing the required learning.

This approach gives participants more than access to AI tools.

It provides a development pathway from introductory learning to using AI to produce tangible outputs and improve efficiency, to build knowledge, familiarity and continued use.

Thai citizens aged 15 or over can pre-register at aipass.go.th using a Google, Microsoft or Apple account.

They must verify their identity through the Thang Rath or ThaID application.

Registration at this stage covers the application, identity verification, and advance account creation processes.

Applicants cannot yet use the AI models, which will become available when AiPASS officially begins service on August 31.

The ministry expects TH-AI Passport to become an important mechanism for narrowing gaps in access to technology, enabling people to use AI to raise productivity and develop innovations, and preparing the country’s workforce for continuing changes in the economy and society as the use of AI expands.