"Kardee" urges the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DE) and the Office of National Digital Economy and Society Commission (ONDE) to release contracts with 14 AI firms to prevent the transfer of Thai citizens' data abroad, warning again to halt the first payment tranche, noting that TH-AI Passport registration numbers do not guarantee tax value.
20 Aug 2026 GMT+7 Ms. Kardee Liao Phairoj, party-list MP and deputy leader of the Democrat Party (DP). commented on the progress of the investigation into the TH-AI Passport project by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DE) and the Office of National Digital Economy and Society Commission (ONDE), stating that the Parliamentary Committee on Communications, Telecommunications, and Digital Economy and Society is closely monitoring technical details, especially procurement contracts and personal data protection. Although pre-registration numbers are rising sharply, these figures are not indicators of budget efficiency and should not justify bypassing thorough scrutiny.
The most critical issue is the system's condition requiring users to consent to sending data for processing on servers abroad, which conflicts with the original Terms of Reference (TOR) stipulating that data must be stored and processed solely within Thailand.
Kardee added that government agencies have previously provided informal explanations claiming that data transfer abroad is merely a technical step and that behavioral data will not be used to further train AI models. However, so far, investigators have not seen the actual contracts—neither between the government and contractors nor between contractors and the 14 AI firms. Therefore, she has made and reiterated three key demands:
1. Suspend the first payment tranche. Delay budget disbursement and delivery until the amended contract draft, reviewed by the Office of the Attorney General, is disclosed to clarify payment terms and liability scope.
2. Clarify the payment criteria (Pay-per-active-user). The current service fee model based on active users remains ambiguous, especially with premium usage promotions (Creator) offered free to new registrants, potentially leading the state to bear a cost of up to 24.70 baht per person per month without actual learning or skill upgrading by the users.
3. Obtain official written confirmation that data will not be misused. If the DE Ministry and contractors cannot provide official letters from all 14 AI firms assuring that Thai behavioral prompts or data will not be processed or used abroad, the project should be immediately terminated.
At the end, Kardee also revealed that "Enhancing AI skills among Thais is positive, but it should not be approached as a one-off handout economy. The government should allocate budgets with clear targets, focusing on actual users such as SMEs, startup developers, or educator training. Our role is to protect taxpayers' money, and I urge those in power to honestly heed these warnings."