Plan to make Phuket and Chiang Mai 'smart cities'
Asina Pornwasin
The Nation


Information and Communication Technology Minister Uttama Savanayana, left

Focus on tech start-ups amid Kingdom's bid to become digital hub of Asean

BANGKOK: -- THE INFORMATION and Communication Technology Ministry is eyeing Phuket and Chiang Mai as 'smart cities' that focus on tech start-ups as part of a move to turn Thailand into the digital hub of Asean.

ICT Ministry Minister Uttama Savanayana said under the policy the ministry planned to roll out pilot projects to drive the country forward, with the "smart city" plan one of them.

Uttama spoke yesterday in a special interview at the Consumer Insight seminar hosted by Nation Broadcasting Corporation. He was interviewed by Suthichai Yoon, adviser to the Nation Multimedia Group's editorial board.

The minister said Phuket and Chiang Mai could be piloted as smart cities because of their technology readiness, location, and internationalism.

Ministry's two main tasks

He said another possible model for rolling out smart cities was establishing technology hubs in special economic zones.

"Currently, there is a lack of direct governmental support in terms of direct investment and direct policies to support tech start-ups, but there are relevant supports such as the support scheme provided by the Software Industry Promotion Agency," he said.

Uttama, who was given the portfolio last month, said there were two main tasks the ministry would tackle over the next three months.

He said the first task was to formulate a solid digital economy master plan, which is currently being developed.

The draft of the plan would consist of five main domain missions - hard infrastructure, soft infrastructure, service infrastructure, digital economy promotion, and a digital society.

The second task involved delivering the pilot projects including projects centred on e-commerce, e-education, e-industry, and e-government.

Uttama said the Ministry would work with other ministries, such as Commerce, to set up an e-commerce platform to help businesses go online, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and those in agriculture.

Hi-speed Internet

for every village

"The plan is to have a national e-payment platform as a crucial part to help drive e-commerce," he said. "Moreover, the government can also play a role to verify online merchants through the Trust Mark."

For education, he said the plan was to have hi-speed Internet coverage for every village in the country by 2016 so as to connect remote communities and schools.

He said the e-industry pilot project focused on encouraging SMEs to benefit from using technology.

The 2,000 ICT centres nationwide could be utilised to leverage SMEs' capabilities.

Uttama said the e-government agency was playing a big role in the planned roll-out of the e-government pilot project.

'Smart cities' would be the fifth pilot project introduced over the next three months, he said.

"The ICT Ministry plans to steer the existing budget, especially the budget for the student tablet scheme, to be used for running the pilot projects," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Plan-to-make-Phuket-and-Chiang-Mai-smart-cities-30268781.html


-- The Nation 2015-09-15

Maybe in Chiang Mai they could start with an Immigration Online Booking System?

Phuket won't be a smart city unless the laws and regulations are followed by the stupid. This new dream only makes the corrupt officials smarter and richer.

All these hubs. The hub hub of Asia!

The "hub" word is being used again. *GROAN*.

Ranks right up there with "Crackdown".

I have nothing to say about this....except you need good spokes!

Digital hub of ASEAN?

While there remain dinosaurs who can't use a computer shaping policies in central government, and whose digital illiteracy means they can not tolerate their underling's writing reports except by hand on paper with the properly prescribed colour pen, in triplicate, forget about becoming digitised, Thailand.

MOE, I'm looking at you in particular. How can you expect an educated population when you don't allow teachers to use technology?

The "hub" word is being used again. *GROAN*.

Ranks right up there with "Crackdown".

You mean that they need to crackdown on the use of the word "hub"?

We are caught then with a form of "perpetual motion", in word usage.

Origin of the word Hub;

Origin

early 16th century (denoting a shelf at the side of a fireplace used for heating pans):

Smart cities? They're going to genetically modify the gene pool?

you mean they are going to educate the kids effectively?

I think Thailand is the Photocopy HUB of ASEAN...

Hasn't happened yet and won't happen. Same spin every year!

yes Thailand has to improve, what about e-bribes? make corruption easier with a TRUST Mark,

for e-comerce you need a education for bussiness, but nobody has this, bussiness plan, calculation, marketing,

words they never heard in small and middle sized shops and here we have another problem in Thailand,

you cant protect Thai bussiness against competitions,

No local Thais have enough technical ability to lead an IT boom here. And the young foreigners who bring that knowledge and the energy to bootstrap new startups are long gone to Cambodia and Vietnam because of the ridiculous Visa and WP laws here in Thailand.

Idiots

There is already internet in every village. I moved out of Phuket and into the jungle in the mountains on the West coast. The internet company had to run about five kms of cable to hook up my internet. They did that free of charge.

Access to infrastructure is not the problem.

The absolute pivotal issue is visas and work permits.

Until that is address properly, you entreprenuers will going to Cambodia and Vietnam to bootstrap their startups.

Smart city plans created by dumbasses.....

Phuket never but Chiang Mia not as corrupt and a few more honorable people!

Are they gonna hire foreigners to do it ... ?

Oh please, the words 'Smart City' and an 'International Holiday Island Destination' with NO public transport system do not belong in the same sentence. Have they any idea just how foolish they look to outsiders? Thought not.

smart cities...???......sounds like an oxymoron to me

"Currently, there is a lack of direct governmental support in terms of direct investment and direct policies to support tech start-ups, but there are relevant supports such as the support scheme provided by the Software Industry Promotion Agency," he said."

What does this even mean in real terms.

​I support the supporting of a support structure to support startups, however.