"Electronic Highway" for Thais

BANGKOK, August 4 (TNA) - Thailand celebrates the National Communications Day on August 4 with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Group Captain Anudith Nakornthap promising that Thai people will have a “highway electronic” by 2015 when the country and other fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are scheduled to form the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Speaking during the weekly broadcast of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Saturday morning, Group Captain Anudith insisted that all Thai people should access to the "highway electronic” over the next three years for their use in communicating nationwide. Anudith also invited the public to visit the ICT Expo 2012 fair being held at the Impact Trade and Exhibition Centre in Muang Thong Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok from August 3-6, during which innovative technologies, especially on disaster warning systems, are on display. The minister later said at a special speech entitled “Smart Thailand Policy" that the policy is comprised of the Smart Network, Smart Business and the Smart Government. According to the ICT minister, the Smart Network is designed to cater to high-speed communication networks nationwide at reasonable prices for consumers; while the Smart Business is meant to encourage people to use information and communication technology in doing businesses and the Smart Government is meant for convenience in linking information between the public and private sectors, as Thailand is prepared to embark on the AEC. The minister acknowledged that the Smart Network will enable 80 per cent of the total Thai population to have the high-speed Internet system by 2015, with the number targeted to rise to 95 per cent by 2020. On the ICT Free WIFI project, the ICT minister noted that both PTT Public Company Limited (PTT) and the TOT Public Company Limited (TOT) will provide Internet services to the public via over 1,000 petrol stations nationwide over the next five months, and that initially, the services will be offered to about 200 stations in Bangkok and outlying provinces. (TNA)