ChatGPT in Thailand: weekly users up 40%, OpenAI says

ChatGPT in Thailand is growing fast, with the number of weekly users up 40% from a year earlier, according to OpenAI, which has now named its first executive to oversee Southeast Asia. The company says Thailand ranks among its top 20 countries for weekly active users of ChatGPT and its coding tool Codex, the Bangkok Post reported on Friday.

The figures were shared by Grace Chua, OpenAI's head of communications for Southeast Asia. They show Thailand becoming one of the more important markets in the region for the maker of the popular AI chatbot.

How Thai users are using ChatGPT

OpenAI gave several details on local habits:

• Weekly ChatGPT users in Thailand rose 40% year on year.
• Time spent using ChatGPT voice in the country is more than 2.5 times higher than a year ago.
• The most popular uses are translation and language help, creative writing and step-by-step digital guidance.
• People aged 18 to 24 are the most active group of users.

The strong use of voice and translation fits a country where many people switch between Thai and English for work, study and tourism. In places such as Phuket, where hotels, tour firms and shops deal with visitors from around the world every day, quick translation tools have obvious appeal.

A new regional leader

Last month OpenAI appointed Sandhya Devanathan as vice-president and general manager for Southeast Asia and Australia. She spent more than 10 years at Meta, most recently as its vice-president for India and Southeast Asia.

A dedicated regional leader usually signals that a tech company plans to build local partnerships, sell more business services and work more closely with governments. OpenAI has not announced a Thai office, but its recent moves show it is putting more effort into the market.

Government and startup links

OpenAI has been working with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation on an AI accelerator. The programme aims to help Thai startups turn early ideas into products that are ready for real-world use.

The push comes as rival platforms also target Thai users and businesses. Google, for example, has offered free Gemini Enterprise access in Thailand for learners in a national AI skills scheme, while surveys such as our report on Thai attitudes to AI suggest growing interest in the technology at work.

Mahidol rolls out ChatGPT Edu

In education, Mahidol University and OpenAI have announced a campus-wide rollout of ChatGPT Edu for faculty, students and researchers. OpenAI said this makes Mahidol the first higher education institution in Thailand to deploy the platform across the whole university.

The partnership is meant to combine Mahidol's strengths in medicine, public health and research with OpenAI's tools. Staff and students are expected to help shape how AI is used in teaching in a Thai setting, and the project will support learning in both Thai and English.

Fellow Intelligence, a strategic partner of OpenAI, will provide guidance and practical training on using ChatGPT, and give faculty and students room to test AI applications in their own fields.

What it means for ChatGPT in Thailand

The numbers point to a young, mobile-first audience that is already using AI for everyday tasks. For businesses, that means customers who are increasingly comfortable asking a chatbot for help, whether booking travel, writing messages or learning new skills.

It also raises familiar questions about accuracy, data privacy and the use of AI in schools and universities. OpenAI's growing presence in the region, and its rising value as covered in our report on OpenAI's trillion-dollar valuation, will keep those debates in the spotlight. Readers who use the app can also see recent product changes in our story on ChatGPT merging its chat and work tabs.

Image: The OpenAI logo seen through a magnifying glass, illustrating the growth of ChatGPT in Thailand. Photo by Jernej Furman via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.