Ao Por pier in Phuket's Thalang district has been turned into the country's first smart pier with various digital solutions for the management system and services for travellers.
This pilot project, part of the Phuket Smart City campaign that began last year, was driven by a collaboration between the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) and the pier's owner.
Buddhipongse Punnakanta, the digital economy and society (DES) minister, said the digital system at the pier will enable authorities to know the number of passengers on each boat and other general information.
Passengers will have to undergo temperature checks before boarding boats to ensure health safety and ward off possible transmission.
The smart pier project will also play a part in supporting economic recovery in Phuket, which heavily relies on tourism, Mr Buddhipongse said.
Digital solutions have been applied at the pier to help screen passengers and boost safety, which could boost tourist confidence in travelling.
"This will be a prototype for other piers in Phuket to follow as a way to develop pier management systems and related software that could boost confidence," he said.
On Sunday, Mr Buddhipongse and officials of the DES Ministry and related agencies visited Ao Por pier to follow up the project, ahead of the mobile cabinet meeting in Surat Thani and Phuket yesterday and today.
The smart pier system can be divided into four stages.
The first concerns passenger registration via the internet. Tour operators or boat owners are obliged to produce online documentation of passengers, crew members, captains, ship names and ship routes before boats leave shore. Authorities will also have to check the information.
Second, an intelligent passenger management system would be adopted, including automatic doors, kiosks for passenger registration with CCTV cameras for facial recognition and temperature check systems, as well as ID card readers and passport checks.
Third, wristbands will be provided for passengers to help track them for assistance if they have any problems.
Finally, electric tourist boats will be provided for the service.
The smart pier, Mr Buddhipongse said, would support one-stop service where data is shared among related parties, which could be a boon for insurance assistance when unfortunate events happen with travellers.
Tourists that have a problem can bring their wristbands to file an insurance claim right away, without having to present any documents to confirm their identity.
"This will shorten the process of receiving treatment in the event of accidents," said the minister.
The online platform will draw necessary data from tour operators and forward it to marine department officials for assessment and conclusion.
Depa president and chief executive Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin said the pier's owner invested 5 million baht to renovate the facility. Depa spent another 5 million baht through its infrastructure fund to develop software and solutions for the smart pier scheme.
He said the government believes other piers will follow such a development as better tourism service standards are needed in this environment. An effective management system between state and private sectors is also important.
Mr Nuttapon said 3-4 piers in Phuket have expressed interest in becoming smart piers.
"The development of software would be around 2 million baht and tech startups in Phuket stand ready to facilitate it," he said.