In a step closer to realising 'e-government', Phuket has emerged as the country's first 'One Stop Service City' where people can get access to government services via the Internet. After two years of development, the 'one click, finish all' project was launched on Friday by caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Suchai Charoenratanakul, who is now in charge of the Information and Communication Technology Ministry.
People can pay their utility bills and get information on public health care, postal services, basic education, job offers, tourism and immigration.
Fifteen government agencies have already linked their databases to www.thaionestop.org to allow people to contact them online, without having to travel to their offices.
Chairwoman Kruawan Samana of the Software Industry Promotion Agency (Sipa), the project developer, said the project was based on service-oriented architecture, which was like ''a main highway that hooks up all agencies under one language''.
''A person can log on to the site with a 13-digit ID number and make bill payments via the Bank of Ayudhya, the only bank to have joined the project so far,'' she said.
People can also check out the educational programmes at the Prince of Songkla University's main campus in Hat Yai in Songkhla province, and at the Office of the Basic Education Commission.
Users can also get their personal medical records from the Public Health Ministry's database, she said.
Public and private agencies wanting to link up with the website are charged between 700,000 and 1,000,000 baht by Sipa, Ms Kruawan said.
However, Dr Suchai said the keys to the project's success were ''ICT literacy'' among Thai people, a change in mindset from hands-on to electronic services, a user-friendly system, a reliable personal data protection system, and a supportive legal framework.
With strong support from the government, Dr Suchai believes it will be possible to reach all public services offered by state agencies electronically in the next few years.
After Phuket, the project will be introduced in other major cities like Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen
Autor(en)/Author(s): Ampa Santimatanedol
Quelle/Source: Bangkok Post, 23.07.2006
