Frost Radar™: Commercial Vehicle Telematics Market in Thailand, 2020

Road traffic accidents and losses involving commercial trucks and buses in Thailand have led to more regulations regarding commercial vehicle specifications, safety, and operation.

In 2013, the Thai government began to implement GPS installation on trucks and tractor trucks used specifically for the transport of dangerous goods and hazardous materials, and an additional feature for real-time video surveillance of the vehicle (through a mobile digital video recorder, or MDVR) in order to monitor the driver’s in-cabin behavior.

Thailand’s Department of Land Transport (DLT) in 2015 initiated a program to require 6-wheel or above vehicles to install GPS location tracking, a magnetic card reader (or identification device), and a driver monitoring system to verify the identity of the driver and monitor road safety practices. All data will be linked in real time to the DLT’s Transport Management Center.

All public transportation vehicles, including commercial buses, have been required to install the relevant telematics equipment since 2017, with installation mandated for all 10-wheeler vehicles (including trucks and tractor trucks) by 2019. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the telematics equipment mandate for medium-duty trucks, including the 6-wheeler segment, will be postponed from 2020 to 2021–2022.

Advanced technologies and next-generation features will be important components of effective telematics solutions. They include advanced driver assistance systems integrated with vehicle tracking and driver monitoring; improved video quality and frame rate, particularly quad high-definition and ultra-high-definition (4K or higher), and reduced delay time of MDVR data transmission; and bundled telematics equipment leasing and subscription packages instead of a one-time purchase and a subscription.

The Frost Radar™ reveals the market positioning of companies in an industry using their Growth and Innovation scores as highlighted in the Frost Radar™ methodology. The document presents competitive profiles on each of the companies in the Frost Radar™ based on their strengths, opportunities, and a small discussion on their positioning. Frost & Sullivan analyzes hundreds of companies in the industry and benchmarks them across 10 criteria on the Frost Radar™, where the leading companies in the industry are then positioned.

Author: Nattachai Charusilawong