Air e-tickets usher in era of digital IDs

Passengers are now allowed to use digital IDs to verify their identity when boarding domestic flights.

Traisulee Taisaranakul, deputy government spokeswoman, said the use of digital IDs had been permitted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand following the rollout of the D.DOPA mobile application.

D.DOPA is a mobile application developed by the Department of Provincial Administration (DPA) for registering a digital ID.

It can be used on both the iOS and Android platforms.

She said digital IDs must be from mobile applications developed by state agencies only, such as D.DOPA or the DLT QR Licence developed by the Department of Land Transport.

Screenshots and photos of actual IDs are not allowed due to the high risk of fabrication, she said.

Ms Traisulee said the move is to let people access services in both the public and private sectors through their digital ID, adding several state agencies, including the Revenue Department, are linked with D.DOPA for e-filing of personal income tax.

To register a digital ID, people must scan a QR code for two-factor authentication, and fill out a Personal Data Protection Act consent form.

The DPA earlier sent a notification to every provincial office and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration telling their officials not to deny services when presented with an electronic ID.

This follows Section 14 of the Digital Public Service Act, which focuses on encouraging the use of digital ID instead of physical documents.

According to the Digital Economy and Society Ministry, the government has targeted 10 million registrants for digital ID systems by the end of this year.