BANGKOK, Sept 5 -The Thai government plans to develop high speed internet service to help facilitate government services in various fields and aims to extend internet networks to cover 80-85 per cent of the country within the next four years, according to Minister of Information and Communication Technology Group Capt Anudith Nakornthap.
In a seminar on a new era of government services on high speed internet attended by heads of government agencies from all ministries, Capt Anudith said that the public would begin to make use of the new government services within one year.
He said that his ministry would meet the concerned agencies including both the ministries of public health and interior on data base development and applications in two months and after that pilot provinces would be selected to upgrade government services using high speed internet.
The minister said four fields of government services would be targeted: e-Government, e-Health, e-Education and e-Agriculture.
E-Government includes issuance of identification cards; e-Education covers education through high speed internet network; and e-Health includes medical consultations via high speed internet network, he said.
The minister said initially, that provinces having readiness to apply the high speed internet network would start providing services via internet. Pilot provinces would be named in two months and all 4-E sectors would take form and be working within one year, before the services extend nationwide in four years.
According to the ministry, the internet network currently covers only 37 per cent of the country and the ministry planned to expand it to cover 80 per cent of all subdistricts by 2012 and 80-85 per cent by 2015.
