Thailand continues core policies to develop digital economy

Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry will continue its eight core policies with a focus on curbing online fraud and creating a sustainable digital economy.

Speaking at the ceremony to mark the ministry's 8th anniversary on Tuesday, Prasert Jantararuangthong, Deputy Prime Minister and DES Minister, said the eight policies are part of its mission of supporting Thailand's growth engine based on improving the country's digital capabilities, creating stability and safety within the digital economy, and increasing the potential of digital human capital.

The eight policies include solving online threats; solving the problem of data leaks from state agencies; driving digital implementation in regions nationwide; cloud first policy; artificial intelligence (AI) development; digital manpower; strengthening startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises; and lifting the country's competitiveness ranking.

Prasert said that all figures related to the policies have improved significantly compared with the previous six months and last year.

From November 2023 to Aug 31 this year, the operations of the Anti Online Scam Operation Center (AOC) had improved in every dimension.

The damage caused by online crime in August stood at THB 75 million ($2.25 million) per day, down 36% from the THB 116 million per day between January and June.

Between November last year and August this year, the centre received 985,538 calls, or 3,231 calls per day on average.

The AOC also suspended 291,256 bank accounts, or 1,107 accounts per day on average during the same period. The ministry, in collaboration with related agencies, shut down 138,660 URLs deemed to be illegal during the period October 1, 2023, to Aug 31, 2024, an 11-fold increase from the same period of fiscal 2023.

Thailand's digital competitiveness ranking in 2023 climbed five places to 35th from 40th in 2022. The country targets to be in the top 30 by 2026.