Key ICT Information

• With regards to the Internet, the country-code top level domain name of Thailand is .th. As of September 2002, there were 10,504 domain names registered under .th. The numbers of domain names register in each of the subcategories under .th are shown below.
• It is forecasted that at the end of 2002 the growth of IT market will arise by 14 per cent of which the software market growth will be by 28 per cent (Source: ATCI/ATSI/CAT-VG/INA, The ICT Master Plan of Thailand 2002-2006).
• ICT Market Composition 2001 - Market Value 1510.81 million US$
  

Initiatives

In the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, China will invest RMB 1,700 billion, and set up correspondence network which is the biggest scale capacity, advanced technique, safety and dependable, and basically content with national economy and social development in the world.

School Net

In the first year of its implementation in 1995, SchoolNet successfully achieved the target of getting 20 schools connected. Later on, this number has been gradually increased, up to 1,500, which was the maximum capacity of the access infrastructure in the first phase, in 1999. In October 1999, the Cabinet had approved the expansion of SchoolNet to serve up to 5,000 schools nationwide as part of the commemoration of His Majesty the King's Sixth-Cycle Birthday. Under this plan, all secondary schools, except those without electricity and/or telephone lines, plus more than 1,000 primary schools, will be able to access the Internet. As of October 2002, there are approximately 4,600 schools that are connected to SchoolNet, with approximately 1,500 having their own websites. From October 2002, the access service part of SchoolNet will be merged with the Ministry of Education's educational network (EdNet), which is responsible for the management of the education system in Thailand, to manage and expand to cover approximately 34,000 schools nationwide.

TOT Initiatives - Public Internet Booths

To provide the Thai citizens an equal opportunity to make use of the Internet, the TOT launched its Public Internet project a few years ago. Initially, 300 Public Internet booths were setup in TOT service offices in major areas. At present, this service is available throughout the country. Each booth has a PC with a 56K modem and a TOT web browser program to enable users to log onto the TOT Internet. A user will have to purchase a TOT card to use at a TOT Public Internet booth. The charge deducted from the card includes a connection fee of 3 baht plus a usage charge of 0.2 baht per minute and a printing fee of 3 baht per page (if any).

TOT Online Service

In 2002, TOT introduced TOT-Online service which provide free Internet access for all telephone subscribers in Thailand. Currently, any TOT subscribers can gain Internet access for free by dialing an access number 1222. Each session is limited to one hour in order to provide fair share of this service to the mass users.

Tambon Net by Ministry of Interior

'Tambon', or subdistrict, is a group of villages. In Thailand, there are approximately 7,000 Tambons. The Ministry of Interior is determined to provide an Internet access to all Tambon Administration Offices in 2003 by making this service available to 1,000 Tambon offices in 2001, additional 3,000 offices in 2002, and another 3,000 offices in 2003. Initially, the project is intended to introduce Internet for the use of the Tambon offices, particularly in their communications with the Ministry. Nevertheless, to make a full use of the Internet, the government encourages all Tambon offices to make this service available also to community members. This Tambon Net now also complementarily serves the subsequently initiated 'One Tambon, One Product' project.

Source: Digital Review for Asia Pacific