Thai talent too often left to die on the vine

It is telling in itself that it took a year for a Thai entrepreneur’s speech on pride in the homeland to get the audience it deserves. Chalermpol Punnotok was imploring his countrymen – and the government – to trust in local ideas and talent and devote some of their endless admiration for foreign inventions to what’s happening right here instead.

Now, at least, it’s been reported that national leaders are interested in meeting the 49-year-old businessman, whose TEDx Talk at Chulalongkorn University last year has suddenly gone viral online in video form. It’s certainly not too late to begin heeding his advice.

Chalermpol is chief executive at CT Asia and CT Asia Robotics, the latter of which last year began exporting robots to Japan. The surprise among the public was plain – hi-tech leader Japan buying robots made in Thailand. What other miracles might be possible?

Chalermpol presented his listeners with an inconvenient truth: Thais have only themselves to blame if the economy remains sluggish. There is great potential all around, he said, but not enough local recognition for it.

A year ago he declared 2015 “the year that Thailand, a developing nation, started exporting robots to Japan”. At the end of 2016 his firm will finish delivering 100,000 units of a robot called Dinsow (Pencil) to elderly-care homes there. Earlier versions were shipped to Sweden as mechanical waiters for restaurants.

Chalermpol’s highly motivating talk began by invoked patriotism, with a slide show on what makes Thais proud about being Thai. That segued into the message that Thais don’t lack for talent – we only fail to take it further. Our Math and Science Olympics champions are never groomed for greater success, he said. The students churned out by colleges year after year who win international prizes building robots end up working for multinational companies – or Japanese firms.

Far too often, Chalermpol said, Thais demonstrate a lack of confidence in what’s made here. Imports rule our lives, whether from America or South Korea of anywhere but here. “Who would buy Thai software?” he’s heard the cynics say. “Who would buy a Thai-built robot?”

And yet here is an example that all Thais can follow. CT Asia amassed profits in software development and used part of that to launch CT Asia Robotics, aiming to enhance Thai competitiveness in the field. Technology merged with marketing to find a role for Dinsow in tending to seniors’ needs.

Most countries’ governments would have backed Chalermpol to the hilt and turned his robots into an object of national pride. Dinsow even wears a Thai flag to remind its foreign users of its origins. But in Thailand, patriotism serves a different master and innovation is left to flourish or falter on its own. 

Given the interest Chalermpol’s video has generated, this is an excellent time for the government to act on his advice. Thailand spends massively on research and development and yet has little to show for it. Thai brands with overseas recognition are few and far between. We once aimed to become “the Detroit of Asia”, but never produced a homegrown car, letting Malaysia and Cambodia seize the initiative with assembly lines of their own.

As the man with the robots has shown, we need to recognise, nurture and appreciate our talent and let them demonstrate that Thailand is on a par with developed nations and capable of answering the world’s needs. “It’s heartbreaking,” Chalermpol said, “to hear a teacher tell students that, if they become as smart as others who’ve graduated, ‘You could go work for a Japanese firm too.’”