The Public Health Ministry has decided not to prohibit staff from using office supplies and assets, or ban the charging of mobile phones.
It has pulled its announcement of the bans, which was signed by permanent secretary for public health Jessada Chokdamrongsuk.
The announcement, which Dr Jessada signed on Dec 29, prohibited 400,000 ministry staff from charging personal mobile devices at the office, citing the need to set clear boundaries to prevent conflicts of interest.
After the announcement, the ministry faced a backlash from netizens, who said the measures were "out of touch with reality".
Dr Jessada said many people were concerned about the restriction of mobile phone charging. A review of the announcement will now be carried out by various parties to ascertain what is suitable.
In addition to mobile phone charging, the following were also banned: Personal use of office equipment, materials or supplies; personal use of ministry vehicles; allowing officials to drive ministry cars for personal business; parking personal vehicles overnight on ministry grounds; and cleaning personal or family vehicles on ministry grounds.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said yesterday the announcement was meant to be in line with the bill on conflicts of interest, which has yet to be rolled out.
The legislation has no content which bans such practices, he said, noting it indicated state property must not be used without permission.
Another section allows each organisation to come out with their own rules on the matter, he said.
Supervisors of agencies must find out themselves what should be suitable approaches, the deputy premier said.
After the new legislation comes into force, the cabinet would come up with central criteria about the use of the state property he said, adding that each ministry will roll out their own rules which would be in line with the cabinet's resolution.
After the announcement of the mobile charging ban, people took to social media to express their disagreement with it.
Some commenters, however, supported the idea, saying it was inappropriate for civil servants to be taking advantage of taxpayer-funded electricity. Matichon Online ran a Facebook video clip posted by a man who claimed to be an electrical engineer on the cost of mobile phone charging.
He wrote that based on the calculation method used by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, if 100 staff in a hospital charge their mobile phones at the same time for one hour a day, the power fee is a mere 3.80 baht.
He questioned whether the ban was worth it in cases where a doctor might have to call colleagues to seek advice on patient treatment and didn't have a working phone. "Let's not force Toon [Bodyslam] on another run to buy power banks for our doctors," read one comment on the clip.