Public agencies have adopted artificial intelligence (AI) to increase officials' productivity, improve personalised service, and ensure transparency while maintaining country sovereignty.
The Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC), National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (Nectec) and Digital Government Agency (DGA) also partnered to introduce an "AI agentic chatbot" to make government services more accessible to people.
Thailand aims to lift its UN E-Government Ranking to 40th by 2032 from 52nd in 2024.
Pakorn Nilprapunt, deputy prime minister for legal affairs, said the government is prioritising building trust.
He said Thailand is strengthening its digital structure by modernising legal frameworks, recognising electronic meetings and digital public administration, and updating laws to support electronic business transactions.
"Our national policy calls for integrating data across government agencies and requiring all future public data to be machine-readable, creating the foundation for fully computable digital public services," Mr Pakorn said at a seminar on AI for the public sector on Aug 6 co-hosted by OPDC, Nectec and DGA.
However, many senior civil servants still lack a practical understanding of AI and generative AI, while some agencies pursue AI projects without having quality, machine-readable data.
The biggest obstacle is accelerating AI adoption among mid- and senior-level officials responsible for shaping public policy, Mr Pakorn said.
Looking ahead, the government is pursuing three strategic priorities. The first is data sovereignty through the adoption of Pathumma, a Thai-language AI model designed to ensure sensitive government data remains under national control.
The second is using AI to create a new digital economy by reducing administrative costs.
The third is promoting scientific policymaking, where agentic AI analyses integrated government data to support evidence-based decisions.
Mr Pakorn said legal reform is another cornerstone of the digital transformation. Around 7,600 regulations are being reviewed.
He said the government's role must evolve from regulator to business enabler, helping the private sector innovate rather than slowing digital transformation through outdated rules.
AI adoption will also support civil service reform. The government plans to freeze recruitment, cap workforce numbers and gradually reduce positions through automation, digital services and early retirement programmes, said Mr Pakorn.
"The objective is to build a leaner, more agile public sector capable of delivering higher-quality services with fewer resources," he said.
AI Agentic Chatbot
Chai Wutiwiwatchai, executive director of Nectec, said many agencies are requesting separate budgets to build their own AI chatbots, often relying on foreign vendors, resulting in duplicated spending.
Instead, he proposed expanding the Pathumma AI platform on the existing Government Data Center and Cloud, allowing agencies to focus investment on domain expertise rather than duplicating infrastructure.
Mr Chai said AI could cut the time required to draft procurement specifications from one week to a single day while improving transparency, auditability and anti-corruption efforts.
The new AI agentic chatbot can retrieve and integrate information across agencies into a single response with source references, marking a significant step towards seamless, AI-driven public services in Thailand.
Narun Popattanachai, director of regulatory impact assessment at the Office of the Council of State, told the Bangkok Post the draft Electronic Transactions Act is awaiting cabinet approval and is unlikely to take effect before the middle of next year.
The draft covers contracts executed by automation or AI systems.
Nattawat Woranopakul, senior executive vice-president of DGA, said the agency is scaling Thailand's Tang Rat super app by integrating AI to transition it to a personalised government portal. The app currently provides 504 services, expected to reach 2,469 by the end of fiscal 2026, according to DGA.
A major strategic goal is implementing an "invisible government", where public services occur automatically in the background, eliminating the need for travel or manual paperwork.
Under this vision, public services will be delivered automatically without requiring citizens to submit paperwork.
A newborn's birth registration will trigger the automatic issuance of an ID, enrolment in education and child welfare programmes, while senior citizens will receive their monthly elderly allowance directly through their linked PromptPay account when they reach the eligible age.
