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In the near future Khao Yai will not only be the site of Thailand’s oldest national park, but a consortium of developers hopes it will also be to Thailand and Asean what Silicon Valley is to the United States: a hub for development of information and communication technology.
Real estate developers and local authorities are planning to establish an International Software Park at Khao Yai, about 80 kilometres from Pak Chong, in Nakhon Ratchasima province, and 200km from Bangkok, making it a “Siam Cyber City”.
Khon Kaen University’s E-Saan Software Park is serving as a consultant to the project. Its director Panupong Wanjantuk said the project, which aimed to become a focus for information and communications technology and software development, was the brainchild of real estate businessmen and local government.
A development and survey team was set up last year to plan the establishment of the international software park. At present, there are plans for local government bodies to provide the project’s physical infrastructure. Development of the software park itself will be divided into three phases.
Panupong said that in the first phase, the development team would inject money to set up the International Software Park, a training centre and an incubation centre so that they would then be able to invite overseas investors and international software companies to set up businesses in Thailand. There are currently three international software companies interested in setting up businesses in the project, he said.
In the second phase, an International University will be established at the software park, with residential areas to support businesses and provide human resources for the project, as well as creating a high quality of life for people involved.
“The development team plans to set up an international university so it can create an international software curriculum for students that will give them the ICT skills and the ability to develop software to support the demands of industry and business. It will also promote Thailand’s software industry and local software development on global markets,” Panupong said.
In the final phase, the International Software Park will be expanded to cover the entire area of land available on the Pak Chong site.
Panupong said the project’s management expected to invite about 200 companies, both local and international, to set up businesses at the International Software Park within five or 10 years. They will develop software to support both local and international markets.
“Nakhon Ratchasima now has around 50 of the 300 software companies located in Thailand’s northeastern region, and these companies have high potential for growth in meeting the demand for software from the local market,” he said.
Panupong said the project would be unable, in the near future, to develop sufficient skilled and ICT-literate workers to meet demand in the Northeast. However, it will transfer technology from overseas countries for the benefit of the local workforce and local software companies, and expects that eventually it will be creating skilled human resources at a rate of about 1,000 graduates per year.
“I think this project provides a good opportunity to establish an International Software Park at Khao Yai that will become a hub for the software industry in Indochina as well as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of Thailand and Asean,” Panupong said.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/30103740/Khao-Yai-an-’ICT-hub-for-Thailand-and-Asean’