Thailand Playing Catch-up On E-government

Thailand playing catch-up on e-government

Slow but steady progress expected of Thailand's e-government

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is still trailing its neighbours in offering online services that best serve its people, according to Surapong Suebwonglee, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister.

Singapore, Malaysia, China and the Philippines were all doing a better job of using electronic technology in providing public services, Dr Surapong said at a meeting yesterday on the e-government action plan.

In a recent international survey of e-government performance, Singapore ranked second while Thailand had no place in the ranking, he said.

He said another survey by US-based Brown University ranked 2,166 web sites of 198 countries that offered e-government services. It ranked Thailand 42nd, while Singapore placed first, Malaysia eighth, China 12th and the Philippines 15th.

Dr Surapong acknowledged that Thailand had little progress to show in the 14 months since the government began its e-government drive.

However, he was optimistic that the pace of progress would improve as each ministry and each department had begun programmes at different times.

He cited the Revenue Department as one of the top performers others should emulate in offering online services to best serve the people.

According to a recent ICT Ministry report, most government agency web sites still offered information only and few interactive exchanges with users.

Khunying Dhipawadee Meksawan, the ministry's permanent secretary, said the ministry had set a three-year target to provide comprehensive e-government services.

Details of the initiative, placing people at the centre of the e-government model, are available at www.ecitizen.go.th.

--asiamedia.ucla.edu 2004-06-08