Thailand IT Policy Analysis: IT 2000 to IT 2010
This paper examines the development and implementation of Thailand's national information technology policies, tracing their origins from the founding of the National Information Committee in 1992 through the IT 2000 and IT 2010 policy frameworks. It explores the pressures from the private sector and international organizations — particularly the WTO — that shaped these policies, and evaluates their core agendas around information infrastructure, human resource development, and good governance. The paper applies a policy sector model to explain how business interests drove policy formulation, discusses progress and shortcomings in areas such as broadband access, e-education, and workforce training, and offers six concrete recommendations to strengthen Thailand's ICT development strategy, including cultural protections, digital divide reduction, and clearer leadership mechanisms.
- Introduction: ICT's global role and paper's scope
- IT Policy Development in Thailand: Origins of pressure for Thai IT policy
- First National IT Policy: IT 2000: IT 2000 agendas, goals, and expert critiques
- IT Policy 2010: Objectives, Goals, and Strategies: Five-domain IT 2010 framework and e-strategies
- International Organizations and the Shaping of Thai IT Policy: WTO agreements and FDI liberalization pressures
- Public Policy Model and Developments to Date: Policy sector model and implementation record
- Policy Gaps and Recommendations: Cultural gaps and six policy improvement suggestions
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What makes this paper effective
- Provides a clear chronological account of Thai IT policy evolution, linking each policy generation to the political and economic context that produced it.
- Incorporates external expert commentary (Seymour, Pipe, Goodman) to evaluate policy credibility, adding analytical depth beyond mere description.
- Grounds the analysis in a named public policy model — the policy sector model — giving the discussion an explicit theoretical framework.
- Closes with six concrete, numbered recommendations that directly respond to gaps identified in the analysis, demonstrating applied policy thinking.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates policy evaluation through expert triangulation: rather than relying solely on official documents, the author cites multiple external commentators to test the credibility of stated policy goals against practical constraints. This technique strengthens the critique of IT 2000 in particular, showing how ambitious infrastructure and social equity targets ran ahead of institutional capacity and political will.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a logical progression: contextual motivation → historical origins → first policy framework (IT 2000) with agendas and critiques → second policy framework (IT 2010) with objectives, goals, and strategies → international pressures → theoretical model and implementation record → gap analysis → recommendations. Each section builds on the previous one, ensuring the final recommendations are anchored in the analytical work done earlier.
Introduction
Advances in science and technology, particularly in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), have played an increasingly important role across the world. Science and technology are now applied in every sector, including education, health, industry, politics, society, and the military (Petrides, 2000). Significant developments in ICT observed over recent decades have demonstrated its growing effect on economic and social activities worldwide. ICT has played a notable role in the economic growth of both developed and developing countries in recent years. Many development strategies have focused on pursuing economic policies that seek to create a more attractive environment for the ICT industry. Such strategies are especially important for developing countries that wish to adapt ICT not only as a driver of new economic growth but also as a means of enhancing citizens' political participation and strengthening social processes through ICT's convergence effects (Ramilo, 2002).
There is little doubt that ICT has had a significant impact on most countries in the world, especially in the ways people communicate, work, and learn (Vu, 2004a). This paper explores and analyzes the IT policy of Thailand, discussing why the policy was formulated, what its goals were, and how it was implemented. In particular, the paper examines its implications for the public sector and offers suggestions for improving Thailand's IT landscape.
IT Policy Development in Thailand
Thailand has made progress in IT, though historically the government did not fully recognize the significance of IT and thus did not actively support its development — particularly the funding of information infrastructure. The private sector suffered as a result of this neglect: businesses urgently needed IT infrastructure to contact clients and suppliers both inside and outside the country. This situation ultimately called for a formal IT policy.
The Internet has revolutionized everything, from communication and entertainment to commerce. By one estimate, the Internet contains approximately 487 billion gigabytes (487 exabytes) of data, and by the end of 2010, there were more than two billion Internet users (Lynn, 2010). Nearly one-quarter of those users were members of social networking sites such as Facebook (F. Statistics, 2010). The Internet's extraordinary growth has been driven by its vast applications, relative anonymity, and global reach.
The Thai government was compelled to formulate and implement an IT policy for two main reasons (Guntasopatr, 1999): pressure from the domestic business sector, and pressure from international organizations and corporations. Guntasopatr (1999) concludes that the private sector played the central role in shaping Thailand's IT policy because it required a competitive tool for conducting business at both national and international levels. The private sector therefore insisted on the development of IT policies to reduce investment risk for businesses in the country. To advance this goal, the private sector organized a seminar and drafted an IT policy to present to the government.
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