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 digital infrastructure and creating an ecosystem that will position it as the digital hub of ASEAN, heard a local seminar on November 11.
Technology is at the core of Thailand's development as the country moves forward into the era of Thailand 4.0, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon told ''Powering Digital Thailand 2021'', a forum jointly organised by the Thai newspaper Bangkok Post and Chinese tech giant Huawei.
Thailand is one of the first countries in ASEAN developing 5G technology for commercial use, he said.
Many areas in the Eastern Special Development Zone or the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) have already adopted this technology, he said, adding digital technologies like 5G, Cloud and AI technologies are crucial infrastructure that can turn Thailand into the digital hub of the region.
Prawit said the government recognised the importance of technological development. It therefore drew up its Digital Economy and Society Development Plan in cooperation between the public and private sectors.
Its aim is to develop infrastructure, innovation, data, human capital and other digital resources that will ultimately drive the country towards stability, wealth and sustainability in the long run, he remarked.
Also present at the event, Digital Economy and Society Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said a new wave of telecom infrastructure is under development, including data centres, submarine cables as well as 5G networks.
He said Thailand is regarded as the first 5G mover in ASEAN in terms of 5G commercial services thanks 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 5G services, he said.
He further said that he has assigned state telecom enterprise TOT to establish a new data centre in 2021 to capitalise on demand from the private sector. TOT is studying the details of the new data centre, including its data-handling capacity, he noted./.
VNA
