The Interior Ministry on Friday officially launched a mobile application to support its digital ID programme aimed at making government services more efficient and easier to access.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who presided over the launch of the "ThaID" mobile application, said it was designed to make it more convenient for people to access state-run services.
He said "ThaID", which was first unveiled on March 14, is very much part of the Thailand 4.0 strategy, and its rollout is an early victory in the government's bid to develop the country's digital ecosystem.
Gen Prayut expressed hopes that more state agencies and private agencies would make use of the digital ID system to streamline their services and urged media outlets to promote wider use.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said the ministry started developing the digital ID programme in October 2020 under the national digital framework and received funding in 2022 to implement the system.
He said more than 3.5 million people have already registered and are using the app first released to the public on May 22, which is currently supported by 50 state agencies and 24 private agencies.
He said that the digital ID programme was developed from the database containing information on 66 million people, which included photos and biometric data such as fingerprints.
The face verification service (FVS) system was used to allow people to register and verify their identity online, allowing them to forgo physically travelling to service locations.
According to Gen Anupong, the digital ID programme will reduce the use of paper as the number of falsified documents in the system.
People interested in using "ThaID" are required to use their actual ID cards to register, take a picture of themselves and generate an eight-number pin in order to use the mobile application.
After successfully registering, users can access a number of services provided by the Interior Ministry.
