Inter-Construction Goals: Navigating Thailand’s Digital Economy from a Sustainable Development Perspective

Abstract

The digital economy has become a powerful engine for global economic resurgence in the post-pandemic era. As an ASEAN developing country, Thailand greatly values the digital economy, which facilitates its “Thailand 4.0” Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By focusing on digitalization trends in Thailand, this article examines whether new technological trends will have beneficial or detrimental impacts on the socioeconomic flowering of the Global South in the digital age. The “Constructive-Sustainable Development Theoretical Framework” is formulated by combining constructivism and the SDGs for conducting analysis. According to empirical research, bridging the digital divide and reducing poverty need to be Thailand’s top priorities. Therefore, Thai policy instruments should promote equal distribution of socioeconomic resources and close the digital divide, accelerate digital talent cultivation to fill the talent gap, build partnership networks that support transnational governance in cyberspace, promote third-party market cooperation, and share the reciprocal profits of development.