Pawoot has launched a centralized catalog consolidating Thailand's digital services into a single platform to save government budget and reduce redundancy. Kan Dee points out the innovation mafia and front-running of state budget, revealing billion-baht projects falsely claiming foreign specifications, urging adherence to the Thailand First policy.
On 1 Oct 2026 GMT+7 at the Parliament building, Mr. Pawoot Pongwitayapanu, Third Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Communications, Telecommunications and Digital Economy and Society, and Ms. Kan Dee Liaopairoj, Fifth Vice-Chairwoman of the committee, jointly announced the results of discussions on integrating government digital services to save budget and reduce redundant investments.
Mr. Pawoot said the committee invited five related agencies: the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa), the Digital Government Development Agency (DGA), the National Innovation Agency (NIA), the Budget Bureau, and the Comptroller General’s Department to discuss integrating Thailand’s digital services. Currently, many capable digital services are scattered under various agencies' supervision, including private sector and startup services in depa’s digital registry, DGA’s infrastructure systems, and NIA’s innovation registry. Some government agencies have chosen to develop new software instead of using existing services, causing redundant investment and budget waste.
The meeting proposed creating a centralized catalog compiling Thai digital services in one place so government agencies can select existing services without developing new systems. Simultaneously, discussions with the Budget Bureau will consider linking redundancy checks to the central digital catalog; if an existing service is found, funding for new system development may be cut.
Ms. Kan Dee Liaopairoj, party-list MP, revealed irregularities ingovernment budget usagefor technology and innovation in the public sector. She said the committee has expedited studies on wasteful and redundant budget use and highlighted front-running behavior in large procurement projects worth hundreds of millions to billions of baht.
Ms. Kan Dee said that government agencies often choose projects with excessively high budgets even though solutions from the government’s own digital service registry, costing only hundreds of thousands of baht, are available. Instead, billion-baht projects benefit foreign companies, causing regrettable budget leaks abroad. Problems also include procurement practices resembling an innovation mafia: locking specifications from the start, claiming imported products assembled in Thailand as innovations, and abnormally inflating prices above market rates.
To solve these issues, she proposed the “Thailand First” approach to make the use of the digital service registry mandatory rather than voluntary, with six main proposals:
1. Mandatory screening (Screen-in Checklist): The Budget Bureau and Comptroller General’s Department must require all digital projects to check if replaceable products or services exist in the digital service registry. Agencies must provide written explanations if they do not choose to use them.
2. Government as first customer (First Customer): Set a minimum quota of digital budget to purchase from Thai startups and digital SMEs that meet standards (e.g., ISO/IEC 42001 for AI), are registered in Thailand, and have no history of corruption.
3. Use a unified SME definition: All agencies should follow the SME definition of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) and adjust financial thresholds to align with actual project values.
4. Integrated support system (SME Springboard): Connect depa, OSMEP, and SME Development Bank to provide entrepreneurs with access to funding, certification, and government markets within a single system.
5. Reduce redundant investment: Before budgeting for new system development, the government must consider platforms developed and successfully used by Thais (e.g., Traffy Fondue platform) to prevent duplicate spending.
6. Ensure transparency and prevent monopolies: The Thai innovation registry and digital service registry must be transparent, auditable, and not become monopolistic systems favoring existing capital groups.
“Although the innovation registry’s protection period has been reduced from 8 to 5 years, the National Innovation Agency (NIA) must be more vigilant and strict. Any product already sold generally in the market must be immediately removed from the innovation registry, not left as a loophole for locking specifications to seek profit,” Ms. Kan Dee said.
She also emphasized that the committee’s recommendations are not optional choices for agencies but urgent actions. Systematic improvements in procurement processes with oversight by the three main agencies could save the national budget billions to tens of billions of baht annually.
Furthermore, she urged the government to adhere to the “Thailand First” policy by supporting and utilizing Local Content, making government agencies the first customers (First Customer) of capable Thai startups and SMEs, thereby opening opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs to grow and strengthening the country’s grassroots economy genuinely.