The government must make an ambitious investment of at least 200 billion baht in ICT infrastructure and human resources within two years if it wants to get the digital economy off the ground, says the Thai Federation of ICT Technology Association (TFIT).
Investment on behalf of the state would encourage greater collaboration from the private sector, said TFIT chairman Vichai Bencharongkul.
He said the spending should focus on four critical areas: ICT infrastructure, e-commerce, ICT human resource development and the government's technology-driven services.
An additional 5 billion baht would be required from the government to promote start-up tech firms to serve the digital economy.
In infrastructure, for instance, the government would need to build a national broadband network and enact measures to enforce minimum internet speeds of 30 megabits per second in 2015 and 100 Mbps by 2020.
Speeding up the country's telecom network coverage to reach 90% of households by 2016 and 95% by 2020 is also a must.
Telecom network-sharing could reduce network investment redundancies and lower imports of network equipment by 15% by 2016.
In addition, investment in at least five more international internet gateways, including submarine cable infrastructure, is needed over the next five years.
The state could serve the new economy by promoting an increase in online merchants to 80,000 by 2016, up from 50,000 now.
Mr Vichai said the development of a digital-based economy would require a strong partnership between the public and private sectors, as well as a long-term commitment from the government.
The value of Thailand's ICT-related businesses is estimated at 2 trillion baht.
The TFIT recently submitted a white paper on the digital economy to Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula.
Mr Vichai said the government should endorse the establishment of a National ICT Council by next year to promote collaboration and efficiency between the public and private sectors.
"The National ICT Council would represent the voice of the industry," he said.
Mr Vichai stressed that the key to the digital economy's success would be trust between the state and businesses.