Almost from the moment they seized power, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and allies in the National Council for Peace and Order have spent time and treasure promoting their vision of the future. The two top meme titles are "Thailand 4.0" and "Digital Thailand". As defined, both are excellent and worthy goals. Lack of planning, absent government supervision and poor performance make both elusive.
The latest problem to surface is whether the country can obtain a key necessity: 5G telecommunications. The world is beginning adoption of this new telecoms standard. The goal until recently was to have 5G up and actually running in Thailand in 2020. It features heavily throughout the government's 20-year national strategy plan. Until very recently, it was generally assumed that government and the private sector were in sync. It turns out they were wrong, and perhaps deluded themselves.
A special report that leads today's Bangkok Post Business section has the details. In short, those responsible for planning and establishing the on-ramp to 5G telecoms have failed spectacularly. In particular, the regime's key player, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), has drained the coffers of private-sector companies charged with implementing 5G. However, it's not all on the NBTC. The three key industry players -- AIS, DTAC and True Move -- also failed the public expectation that derives from the privileged position in keeping up with technology.
