PHUKET, THAILAND — 20 July 2026 — The Big Data Institute (Public Organization) (BDI) announced the five winning organizations of BDI Hackathon 2026: PRO AT Phuket, recognizing high-potential AI innovations capable of addressing priority challenges in Phuket and advancing toward real-world deployment.
BDI Hackathon 2026: PRO AT Phuket is part of BDI’s broader effort to accelerate AI adoption in Phuket by connecting innovative technologies with the province’s most pressing needs. Through the initiative, BDI brought together businesses, legal entities, and technology startups with scalable AI capabilities while inviting organizations across the province to identify operational challenges through a Call for Problem Proposals—an open call for real-world issues that could be addressed using Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.
Five priority challenge areas were selected from submissions by local stakeholders, including the Phuket Provincial Police, the Sustainable Tourism Development Foundation, the Phuket Chamber of Commerce, the Phuket Provincial Land Transport Office, and the Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association (TEATA). These challenge areas became the competition’s five categories—AI for Better Traffic, AI for Better Waste Management, AI for Better Water Management, AI for Better Vehicle Compliance, and AI for Better Tourism—ensuring participants developed innovations based on genuine local priorities rather than hypothetical scenarios.
After weeks of mentoring and technical workshops, 19 participating organizations showcased their technologies during the Demo Day and Awards Ceremony, held at Courtyard by Marriott Phuket Town, where the winners were selected.
AI for Better Traffic
Winner: Tech Mint Co., Ltd.
Winning Innovation: "Phuket ThangRat" — An intelligent traffic management platform integrated with the existing Phuket Eye CCTV network, providing real-time traffic monitoring and predictive congestion alerts.
AI for Better Waste Management
Winner: MakeSure (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
Winning Innovation: "City Healing" — A smart waste management platform that forecasts waste accumulation, optimizes collection routes, and monitors bin capacity in real time.
AI for Better Water Management
Winner: Smart Jigsaw Limited Partnership
Winning Innovation: "AquaSync" — An intelligent water management platform that analyzes environmental data to forecast local water demand and provide early warnings of shortages or surpluses.AI for Better Vehicle Compliance
Winner: Charles Consulting Co., Ltd.
Winning Innovation: Behavioral AI & Driver Risk-Scoring — A behavioral analytics platform that works alongside the Phuket Eye infrastructure to assess driving behavior, strengthen road safety, and support law enforcement.
AI for Better Tourism
Winner: Quantum Leap Co., Ltd.
Winning Innovation: "Phuket LocalLens" — An Agentic AI platform designed to distribute visitors to secondary destinations, anticipate tourism-related risks, and promote sustainable local economies.
The closing ceremony and award presentation were presided over by Mr. Chotnarin Kerdsom, Governor of Phuket Province, who emphasized the importance of collaboration among the public, private, and academic sectors in developing practical innovations for the province.
"The outcomes of this competition, whether in the form of concepts or prototype technologies developed under the five challenge areas, reflect the potential of young talents, developers, and experts to apply data and technology in creating innovative solutions to local challenges. I hope these innovations will not end with the competition but will be continue to be developed into pilot implementations that support Phuket’s journey toward becoming a Smart City and a high-quality tourism destination," said Mr. Chotnarin.
Prof. Dr. Tiranee Achalakul, President of BDI, said Thailand is entering an era of rapid AI adoption, where high-quality data, secure data sharing, and interoperability are fundamental to innovation.
“BDI Hackathon 2026: PRO AT Phuket is not merely a competition, but a platform for nurturing innovations that are ready to be further developed into real-world applications. Phuket is a strategic tourism area with strong potential. In 2027, BDI plans to collaborate with Phuket Province to develop decision-support dashboards and a data access rights management system, enabling all sectors to securely and efficiently exchange and utilize data. These efforts will be undertaken alongside the integration of central government data with local data through collaboration with universities and private-sector organizations in Phuket. BDI will also promote the implementation of high-potential solutions emerging from the Hackathon, with the goal of creating practical applications that can serve as models for the use of Big Data and AI to enhance urban management and sustainable tourism,” said Prof. Achalakul.
Each winning organization will receive THB 100,000, with a total prize pool of THB 500,000. The initiative will continue beyond the competition through a Pilot/Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Grant phase. Eligible winners may apply for funding of up to THB 2 million per project, with up to two projects selected under a total budget of THB 4 million. This next stage will support field validation in collaboration with the stakeholders that originally proposed the challenges, helping transform promising innovations into deployable technologies that can create measurable impact.
BDI Hackathon 2026: PRO AT Phuket reflects BDI’s commitment to turning AI into practical outcomes. By identifying genuine local challenges, connecting them with scalable technologies, and supporting pilot deployment, the initiative provides a clear pathway for accelerating AI adoption in Phuket while creating a model that can be replicated across Thailand.
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