Thai Tech and Telecom Revenue: Growing or Shrinking in 2026
In short
By reported revenue, Thailand's information and communication sector shrank 23.2 percent over the decade, dropping from 844.8 billion baht in 2015 to 648.6 billion baht in 2025. It is the rare sector to move backward while almost everything else grew. The sector still holds 52,537 companies and a 55.3 percent survival rate, above the national 50.0 percent. The decline is in reported revenue and may reflect where telecom income is booked, not a real collapse.
Is Thai tech and telecom growing or shrinking?
The short answer is that it shrank, at least on the registry's own measure. Reported revenue for information and communication companies fell from 844.8 billion baht in 2015 to 648.6 billion baht in 2025, a drop of 23.2 percent (DBD, 2026). That makes it the rare sector to move backward across a decade when almost everything else grew. Wholesale and retail expanded by 96.5 percent over the same ten years. Human health and social work more than doubled, rising 112.8 percent. Yet the count of firms looks healthy at 52,537, about 2.6 percent of all classified companies. Survival looks healthy too, at 55.3 percent, a shade above the national 50.0 percent. So the paradox is sharp: more firms, better survival, and a reported top line that still slipped.
Reported revenue, 2015 versus 2025
- 2015845
- 2025649
Figures in billion baht, reported revenue.
Two years, one sector, a lower bar at the end of the decade.
How three sectors moved over the decade
| Industry section | Reported revenue change, 2015 to 2025 |
|---|---|
| Human health and social work | +112.8% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | +96.5% |
| Information and communication | -23.2% |
Reported revenue change from 2015 to 2025 by industry section, as of 2 Jul 2026.
Why this matters, and how to read it honestly
Read this decline with care. The registry captures reported revenue for companies that filed in a given year, so where a large telecom operator books its income can swing a whole section. A restructuring that shifts billing into a holding company or an investment vehicle can shrink section J on paper without a single customer lost. The gap is real in the filings, and it may not be real in the economy. Measured by value added rather than by company filings, Thailand's wider digital economy has kept climbing, a trend the World Bank ties to the country's growth prospects (World Bank, 2025). The lesson for anyone reading registry totals is plain. A sector can lose reported revenue and still be expanding underneath, and the only honest way to tell the two apart is to name which number you are looking at. For tech and telecom in Thailand, the filings say shrinking and the value added says growing, and both can be true at once.
Definitions
- Information and communication, section J
- The TSIC industry section covering telecom operators, software, data, media and related services. TSIC is Thailand's standard industrial classification used by the registry.
- Reported revenue
- The aggregate revenue of companies that filed a financial statement for a given year. It moves with real trade and also with which entities file and where income is recorded.
- Net profit margin
- Aggregate net profit as a share of aggregate revenue for the sector. A 4.19 percent margin means about four satang of profit for every baht of revenue.
- Survival rate
- The share of companies in the sector that remain active rather than dissolved or dormant, measured across the registry.
Assumptions
- The decade change compares reported revenue in 2015 with reported revenue in 2025 for companies filing in each year.
- A change in reported revenue can reflect reporting structure, such as where a telecom group books income, and not only underlying business performance.
- Survival rate and net profit margin are section-wide aggregates rather than averages of individual company figures.
Methodology
Figures are drawn from the Department of Business Development registry of juristic persons in Thailand as of 2 July 2026. The sector is TSIC section J, information and communication. Reported revenue by year counts the aggregate revenue of companies that filed a financial statement for that year, so a change over time can reflect both real performance and shifts in which entities file or where income is recorded. Survival rate and net profit margin are section-wide aggregates. The decade change is computed from the 2015 and 2025 reported revenue totals.
How we verified this
- Recomputed the decade change as 648.6 minus 844.8 divided by 844.8, which equals -0.232, or -23.2 percent, confirming the sign is negative.
- Confirmed the sector share as 52,537 divided by 1,986,489, which equals 0.0264, or 2.6 percent of classified firms.
- Checked that the sector's survival rate of 55.3 percent sits above the national 50.0 percent, so the shrink is not a survival collapse.
- Flagged that the change reflects reported revenue for companies filing in each year and may be affected by where large telecom revenue is recorded.
References
- Department of Business Development. (2026). Registered juristic persons and financial statement aggregates. Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. https://www.dbd.go.th/
- World Bank. (2025, July 3). Thailand's digital future key to boosting growth [Press release]. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/07/03/thailand-s-digital-future-key-to-boosting-growth
Frequently asked questions
Is Thailand's tech and telecom sector growing or shrinking?
By reported revenue in the DBD registry it shrank, falling 23.2 percent from 844.8 billion baht in 2015 to 648.6 billion baht in 2025.
How many tech and telecom companies are there in Thailand?
There are 52,537 companies in the information and communication sector, about 2.6 percent of all classified firms.
Does the revenue decline mean the sector is failing?
Not necessarily. Its survival rate is 55.3 percent, above the national 50.0 percent, and the drop may reflect where large telecom revenue is booked rather than lost business.
Which firm leads the sector by revenue?
Advanced Wireless Network is the leading firm by reported revenue in the sector.
Cite this page
Chatpong L. (2026). Thai Tech and Telecom Revenue: Growing or Shrinking in 2026. Max Data Insights. https://maxdatathailand.com/insights/is-thai-tech-and-telecom-growing-or-shrinking-2026
Data & corrections
Download the data (CSV)Spot something off, or want to ask about the data? Email insights@maxsolutions.co.th. We publish corrections.
Written by
Chatpong L.Founder, Max Data, Max Solutions Co., Ltd.
Chatpong L. leads Max Data, a company-intelligence platform built on Thailand's official business registry. He writes about the structure of the Thai economy using primary registry data. His work covers company formation, industry concentration, and regional business activity.
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This page reports company-level and aggregate statistics only. It names no individuals and makes no claims about any person. Figures are provided for information and may be revised as source data updates.