Digital Economy Promotion Office Launches Digital Agriculture Roadshow and Pitching Day in Upper Northern Thailand
Thailand's Digital Economy Promotion Office is hosting a digital agriculture roadshow and pitching competition April 29-30 in Chiang Mai, offering training and funding to help northern farmers and communities adopt technology to boost produ
The Digital Economy Promotion Office (depa) is accelerating the One Tambon One Digital Season 3 (OTOD #3) project through the Accelerate Digital Agriculture and Digital Agriculture Pitching Day roadshow in the upper northern region. The initiative seeks to upgrade digital technology skills in agriculture for community groups, farmers, and entrepreneurs in northern Thailand while providing a platform to identify innovative community ideas for funding support from the project.
The event takes place April 29-30, 2025 at the Centara Riverside Hotel in Chiang Mai, with Vice Governor Siwakorn Buapong presiding over the opening ceremony. Government agencies, private sector representatives, farmers, and community groups are participating, alongside Boonthawee Duangirat, Director of Community Development Promotion and Support at depa, and Prachaya Komanan, Northern Branch Manager of the Digital Economy Promotion Office.
Boonthawee highlighted that the upper northern region is a major agricultural production area generating significant income for farmers, yet the sector faces multiple challenges including rising production costs, labor shortages, climate volatility, and technology gaps. Integrating digital technology into agricultural management is essential to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase agricultural productivity while enabling new-generation farmers and communities to develop sustainable modern agricultural business models.
The Accelerate Digital Agriculture program features intensive training and workshops on four key topics: digital technology for smart agriculture, income generation through digital content creation, financing readiness and business proposal development, and community green economy development. The event includes an AgriTech Showcase featuring digital agricultural technology from Thai entrepreneurs and a Business Matching area connecting community groups with certified technology service providers registered in the Thailand Digital Catalog.
Expert speakers from various sectors, including digital agriculture specialists such as Ajchara Chumphugkua (Ban Rong Tee Meed Community Rice Center Chairman), Second Lieutenant Nithorn Saenkampin (Young Smart Farmer Network Coordinator for Chiang Mai), Khawan Kamdee (Khaokham Community Enterprise representative), and Torlarp Samukrat (content creator), will share experiences and approaches to implementing digital technology in agriculture and community economics.
A major highlight is the Digital Agriculture Pitching Day regional pitching competition offering funding for technology development in communities. Community groups and entrepreneurs can pitch project concepts for depa support, divided into two categories: upgrading community groups in digital technology application (d-Community) with support up to 150,000 baht per project.
