Exclusive: Thailand’s vision for trusted digital ID
Thailand wants to completely do away with physical identity cards, and instead replace them with a new digital ID system that will give people more control over what data they share.
Improving the nation’s digital identity system is a “genesis block” of the digital economy, says Dr Karndee Leopairote, a Thai entrepreneur and Supervisory Board member of the nation’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA). It is set to “trigger a lot of improvement” in sectors ranging from banking to e-commerce and healthcare, she says.
Leopairote discusses how Covid-19 has accelerated Thailand’s vision for digital identities, e-signatures and e-commerce.
Building a self-sovereign digital ID
ETDA is currently working on legislation that would replace physical ID cards with the Digi-ID, Leopairote says. This would further encourage the use of electronic identities in Thailand, where governments, banks and insurance associations have been using digital identities since 2018. Digi-IDs will also boost e-commerce by allowing transactors to verify each others’ identity.
Tian Jiao Lim
