Registering businesses and paying taxes as well as utility bills can now be processed at www.ecitizen.go.th.
First-time users can log on with their 13-digit ID number, then the system will generate a username and password, which can be changed at any time by users. The website is designed as a one-stop service portal, with links to various agencies, said Dhipavadee Meksawan, permanent secretary of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry.
The first five state organisations providing e-services are the Revenue, Business Development and Employment departments, the Social Security Office and the Registration Administration Bureau.
People without a home computer or who live in remote rural areas can access the e-services at post offices. "Now, 769 post offices nationwide have installed high-speed Internet kiosks to serve people in the provinces. Here, at Thai Post headquarters 10 kiosks have been set up," Dhipavadee said.
The post office kiosks are always connected to the Internet at the speed of two megabits per second and will be upgraded with smart card readers to accept the national e-citizen card when it is deployed later this year.
The ICT Ministry plans to develop a uniform format for the more than 1,000 government application e-forms, Dhipavadee said. It would start with the e-forms of the Revenue and Business Development departments, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Social Security Office and the Registration Administration Bureau.
"The services needed by the most people will be our first priority," she said, adding that the move was part of the implementation of the e-government scheme.
A demonstration area has been set up at Laksi Post Office.
Quelle: The Nation, 14.02.2004
