Mapping the Thai Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Constraints, Trends, Entrepreneurial Intention and Initiative

Abstract

Through qualitative interviews, I investigate the main constraints of the Thai entrepreneurial ecosystem and the evolving technology and investment trends that are reshaping Thai industries and the creation of new ventures, with a prominent role played by corporate venture capitalist and corporate innovation. It emerges that there are three main constraints in the Thai ecosystem: a lack of talents, affecting entrepreneurial readiness; a lack of funding; and a lack of policies supporting entrepreneurship. At the same time, novel investment trends in e-commerce, sustainability, borderless economy across Southeast Asia and, inclusion are emerging - mostly fueled by younger demographics- paired with two prominent technology adoptions: blockchain technologies, and artificial intelligence and machine learning. Further, I analyze the main drivers of entrepreneurial behavior and how Thai entrepreneurs solve problems, cognitively adapt, and adopt bricolage and other approaches to execute their entrepreneurial intention and succeed in a nascent and resource-scarce ecosystem. It appears that Thai entrepreneurs conjugate common patterns of entrepreneurial behavior, with some elements unique to the Thai context: higher adaptability due to the scarcity of resources; stronger emphasis on industry and business connections, as a way to establish and scale up the venture; and the combination of Thai traditional management approaches with internationally-aligned practices.