The government has announced a plan to use big data to locate and target the poor in a bid to reduce inequality and provide better, more systematic welfare.
Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, deputy prime minister, yesterday ordered provincial governors across the country to become familiar with the "TPMAP (Thai People Map and Analytics Platform)" system. "Reducing poverty and inequality is the priority of this government and we need all state agencies to be on the same page," he said.
"TPMAP will help us locate vulnerable groups and provide appropriate remedies," Gen Prawit told officials at the TPMAP launch event in Samut Songkhram province.
The province has been chosen by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development (ONESD) to trial the new platform.
The development think tank worked with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (Nectec) to develop the online database.
The project started in 2017 when the junta government ordered the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), under which Nectec works, to investigate big data solutions to welfare provision.
Wanchat Suwankitti, an adviser and analyst at the ONESDB, said the TPMAP would analyse citizen data from agencies such as the Community Development Department.
The TPMAP uses used five indices to pinpoint vulnerable groups and the welfare they need. These are education, health, living conditions, access to public services and financial situation.
Charat Boonnasa, governor of Samut Songkhram, said the province would launch training courses to educate officials and local administration staff on how to use the database to inform local policy decisions and implement actions plans.
Suttipong Tachayapong, head of the Strategy Team on Artificial Intelligence at NSTDA, said the TPMAP is another early attempt by the country to embrace artificial intelligence.
Over the past few years, the government has attempted to modernise its approach to administering welfare services with an early version of the TPMAP platform and targeted skills training proving successful in boosting the incomes of 7,500 households across the province.
If the launch of the first full version of TPMAP in Samut Songkhram province proves to be a success, the government will roll out the system across the kingdom.