BANGKOK (NNT) – Following the success of the government’s half-half co-payment scheme, a new Kla Party has voiced support for further development of the Pao Tang mobile application. The party wants Pao Tang to become Thailand’s e-commerce platform, which can compete with foreign platforms. With the adoption of e-government, Thai people will have access to state benefits and services.
Kla Party leader Korn Chatikavanij led his party’s digital economy team in presenting eight ways to turn the Pao Tang app into a “super app” through the expansion of the government’s co-pay project. The party lauded the scheme, which has received positive feedback from the people, and has stimulated growth in the local economy. The party suggested that Pao Tang can be more than a mechanism to stimulate growth and cut people’s expenses. The government can use it in a variety of ways, as it is a door to the 21st century. It can be developed into a national platform, which will lead to civil service reform.
The Kla Party’s eight-way proposal consists of developing the first national e-marketplace for Thai people, preventing information from being leaked to foreign platforms, allowing businesses to access information, waiving fees that are associated with other apps, setting up a financial loan system which is accessible to everyone, providing digital identification for all Thais, opening access to state welfare and giving people access to other benefits effectively.
The Kla Party’s digital economy team indicated that some 10 million people are using the Pao Tang app, and that is expected to increase to 15 million after the second phase of the co-pay scheme. Some 700,000 to 800,000 shops and stores have registered with the project. The government should study users’ information and consumer behavior, to develop an e-marketplace, allowing vendors to use online channels to sell their products directly to people in the country and abroad. Information provided by entrepreneurs, financial institutions and government agencies can be used to improve services, while saving cost and time.
