The government plans to develop a new e-payment system that works similar to Alipay, the third-party mobile and online payment platform of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, to draw more merchants to participate in the tax system.
The new e-payment system aligns with the digital government development roadmap that calls for all government agencies to become fully digitalised by 2022, said Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.
The new e-payment system may be managed by the Digital Government Development Agency (DGA).
The DGA was founded in 2018 to provide services and support to all government agencies with regard to digital government transformation.
The agency introduced the e-government portal www.egov.go.th a few years ago to serve as a central information hub, helping people to access public services provided by different agencies.
It also developed the CITIZENinfo app earlier this year, offering services for those searching for 8,000 locations of state agencies nationwide, as well as the required documents needed before citizens contact these state agencies.
According to Mr Somkid, innovation will strengthen the capability of state agencies and upgrade Thailand's competitiveness.
He called on state agencies and state-owned enterprises to reveal their data to help improve policy planning and government services.
Valid and on-time data on road usage, community tourism and household spending will enable the public and private sector to conduct more in-depth analysis to cut costs while doing business, Mr Somkid said.
The deputy prime minister also voiced confidence in the third phase of the Taste-Shop-Spend scheme to stimulate domestic consumption until early next year.
"The government expects domestic consumption to continue improving, as statistics have shown it started recovering in September," Mr Somkid said.
The government estimates that once the third phase is implemented, more merchants will take part in the scheme, encouraging them to join the tax system and ultimately generate more revenue for the government.