Security players remain upbeat about their prospects in Thailand, as smart city and infrastructure upgrades are largely on track and new technologies are taking decisive steps beyond the proof-of-concept phase.
Security players remain upbeat about their prospects in Thailand, despite slowing economic growth in the near term.
Investors were briefly spooked by the Thai economy shrinking 0.6 percent in Q3, as businesses were affected by devastating floods in the south of the country. The factors that have contributed to a robust upswing in the security market, however, remain unaffected. Infrastructure upgrades are largely on track and new technologies for smart cities are taking decisive steps beyond the proof-of-concept phase.
Many of them were on display at the Thailand Smart City Expo 2025 on Nov. 5-7 in Bangkok. They include AI digital twin traffic management systems, for example by WAYS1, a South Korean smart mobility technology company, or AI-driven rapid flood-damage assessment and urban safety management technology by NEC.
With a growing data center industry as the backbone of the AI,, IoT and smart city trends, Thailand is set to remain at the center of the region’s economic development, with security players poised to benefit from major projects.
Public sector spending
The World Bank in 2024 called Thailand a “development success story,” with GDP growth of 2.4 percent “surpassing expectations.” Growth is expected to slow to 1.8 percent this year, which is largely in line with the regional and global economic climate.
Sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, though, as the Thai government is making strides to mitigate factors that dampen the economy. These include household debt rates of over 90 percent of GDP that have prompted banks to grant loans reluctantly, a soft automotive sector and a slowdown in the real-estate market.
With fundamentals remaining solid and large-scale programs to upgrade the country’s infrastructure staying largely on track, however, the security industry remains upbeat.
“Thailand’s video surveillance market is gaining momentum, with growth expected in the range of 7 to 9 percent this year—broadly in line with Southeast Asia,” said Ekarin Watcharayingyong, MD of Keenfinity Thailand. “Transport infrastructure—airports, roads, metro—together with government buildings and city surveillance remain core areas of investment. Demand now goes beyond cameras, extending to integrated command centers, enterprise VMS, license-plate recognition, and AI analytics. Importantly, government tenders are increasingly calling for end-to-end solutions rather than standalone products.”
Among the flagship initiatives is the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), a special economic zone seeking to unlock the economic potential of Thai provinces east of Bangkok. It includes a 22km high-speed rail link between the capital and U-Tapao Airport south of the beach resort town of Pattaya; a new terminal, runway and cargo and airplane maintenance facilities at U-Tapao; and capacity expansions at Thailand’s biggest container port at Laem Chabang.
The Thai government has put a strong focus on IoT integration in all upgrades under the EEC scheme. Meanwhile, it is also continuing to certify smart cities under a separate scheme announced in late 2023, seeking to include 105 locations by 2027. So far, 37 cities have been certified.
Needless to say, these initiatives are a boon to security systems providers. Traditional subsectors of the security industry are also expecting robust growth.
Market intelligence firm Imarc recently wrote in a report that Thailand’s access control market reached US$155.76 million in 2024 and is projected to reach $349.34 million by 2033, which would result in an annual growth rate of 9.39 percent.
Private sector spending
Private sector investment remains robust, including in verticals with large security systems demand such as data centers and mixed-use properties.
In the first half of 2025, investment promotion applications
continued to grow strongly, up 139 percent year-on-year. About 70 percent of applications were for foreign direct investments. In the EEC, FDI totaling THB 62.9 billion (US$1.94 billion) was recorded in the first half of 2025.
The security market benefits from this influx of investment. “Thailand is well-positioned, supported by public-sector spending in city surveillance, transport, and government buildings; rising FDI in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC); new data centers; and a market shift from ‘more cameras’ toward AI-enabled, platform-based solutions,” Watcharayingyong said.
Thailand’s data center industry benefits from increased demand for digital services, including from AI platforms, as well as the country’s strategic location in the larger region. Thailand in November approved four major new data center projects with a total investment volume of about THB 100 billion (US$3.1 billion), including a 200MW hyperscale data center by local investor Zenith Data Center and Cloud Services, which is set to join global key players such as Microsoft or Amazon Web Services in operating hubs in Thailand. Security industry players expect significant demand for their systems.
“Private sector demand is strong in data centers. This vertical requires advanced solutions. And many projects are led by foreign investment,” said Ken Arimura, MD of OPTEX Thailand.
Meanwhile, mixed-use properties combining residential, retail and office spaces are seeing a boom in Thailand, benefiting security players providing integrated solutions.
“In Bangkok, large-scale mixed-use projects such as One Bangkok, Dusit Central Park, Cloud 11, and Bangkok Mall showcase the scale of private investment,” Watcharayingyong said. “Notably, One Bangkok—Thailand’s largest mixed-use development—opened in October 2024 with over 5,000 cameras installed, including Bosch solutions, underscoring the massive demand for security in landmark projects.”
A look beyond Thailand
Meanwhile,
Singapore is taking the “smart city” logic to a new level, positing itself as a “smart nation” with regard to infrastructure. Here the focus is most decisively on cyber-physical convergence and projects in critical infrastructure and other high-margin verticals.
With the Open Digital Platform, the Singapore government has created a platform to facilitate smart city development on the granular level, including traditional security subsectors video surveillance and access control.
Boasting one of the most robust growth rates in the region,
Vietnam remains focused on updating video security infrastructures, with special focus on cybersecurity and compliance, as well as traffic management systems that utilize VMS and LPR for electronic enforcement. Growth in security is driven by volume projects seeking to put Vietnam on a solid footing for further growth.
In the larger economy,
Indonesia may offer the largest long-term prospects. Large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the Nusantara Capital City (IKN), continue to drive demand for IoT, surveillance and access control technology, while private sector demand is expected to remain strong on the back of robust GDP growth prospects ranging from 4.7 percent (according to the World Bank) to up to 5.8 percent (according to the Indonesian government).