Pawut Pongwittayaphanu, a list MP from the Populist Party, urged people to watch closely tomorrow's launch of the TH-AI passport event, questioning what benefits Thai citizens will receive. He believes there is a process locking in specifications to favor existing capital groups, to channel money from the project and its fund to the Blue Capital Group.
On 10 June 2026, Mr. Pawut Pongwittayaphanu, a list MP from the Populist Party, spoke about the TH-AI passport project valued at 1.6 billion baht. Tomorrow (11 June), the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) will hold a public consultation. However, the public remains skeptical because the permanent secretary of DES has stated that although public feedback has been gathered, nothing can be changed. This raises the question: why collect opinions if no changes will be made? This event appears to be a way for insiders in the IT sector to whitewash the project and legitimize it by collecting feedback and then claiming it will be used for improvements, which ultimately cannot occur. He questioned why there was no public consultation before the project started, yet feedback is only sought retroactively, even after contracts have been signed and the project has proceeded. This suggests the project did not originate from genuine public demand but was initiated to extract leftover funds from the fund. Everything seems to facilitate corruption and embezzlement within this project.
Meanwhile, Ms. Nan Boonthida Somchai, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy and Society, explained that the project is open to all companies. However, the Terms of Reference (TOR) specify that participating companies must have previously handled contracts worth 400 million baht within the past eight years. Currently, about 15 technology companies meet this criterion and all are well known to each other, indicating potential collusion to extract this large sum. He questioned why the bidding ceiling was not lowered to allow more private firms to compete. The TOR also clearly requires purchasing out-of-media advertising in convenience stores, suggesting that those who drafted the TOR may benefit from this requirement. This further confirms the suspicion of collusion. He emphasized that the TH-AI passport project is just the tip of the iceberg, with much more hidden beneath. He also noted a pattern where one company is used to set a median price that is artificially raised by hundreds of millions of baht compared to similar projects in other ministries. When this group colludes to set prices and select winners, they secure large profits that are then funneled to political networks known as the 'Blue Capital Group,' part of the Blue Regime that currently influences the upper and lower houses of parliament and independent organizations.