Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon delivers a speech at the Powering Digital Thailand 2021: Huawei Cloud & Connect forum in Bangkok on November 11. (Photo: Bangkok Post)Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand is setting its sights on boosting its digitalinfrastructure and creating an ecosystem that will position it as the digitalhub of ASEAN, heard a local seminar on November 11.
Technology is atthe core of Thailand's development as the country moves forward into the era ofThailand 4.0, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told ''Powering DigitalThailand 2021'', a forum jointly organised by the Thai newspaper Bangkok Postand Chinese tech giant Huawei.
Thailand is oneof the first countries in ASEAN developing 5G technology for commercial use, hesaid.
Many areas in theEastern Special Development Zone or the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) have alreadyadopted this technology, he said, adding digital technologies like 5G, Cloudand AI technologies are crucial infrastructure that can turn Thailand into thedigital hub of the region.
Prawit said thegovernment recognised the importance of technological development. It therefore drew upits Digital Economy and Society Development Plan in cooperation between thepublic and private sectors.
Its aim is to develop infrastructure, innovation,data, human capital and other digital resources that will ultimately drive thecountry towards stability, wealth and sustainability in the long run, he remarked.
Also present atthe event, Digital Economy and Society Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said anew wave of telecom infrastructure is under development, including data centres,submarine cables as well as 5G networks.
He said Thailandis regarded as the first 5G mover in ASEAN in terms of 5G commercial servicesthanks to the 5G licence auction held on February 16. The mobile operators, which won 5G spectrum licences, are obliged to deploy their networks in the EEC in the first year of their 5Gservices, he said.
He further saidthat he has assigned state telecom enterprise TOT to establish a new datacentre in 2021 to capitalise on demand from the private sector. TOT is studyingthe details of the new data centre, including its data-handling capacity, henoted./.
VNA
