Thailand now has 36 smart cities in 25 provinces
The government has named 36 towns or municipalities in 25 provinces “smart cities” after they met the required criteria.
Rachada Dhnadirek, deputy government spokesperson, said on Monday that the 36 towns/municipalities had been endorsed as “smart cities” as of July. She added that another 15 towns will be named “smart” by the end of the year.
To get a “smart city” tag, towns/municipalities are expected to have at least one of the following criteria: smart telecom, smart energy, smart living, smart industry and retail, smart mobility, smart environment and smart healthcare.
She said the smart city status should draw around US$1.7 billion in foreign investments.
She said the government has five goals when it comes to developing smart cities.
They are:
• Developing pilot smart cities for other provinces to follow by selecting towns/municipalities with potential
• Reforming law to facilitate smart city development
• Creating administrative mechanisms for driving and implementing smart city policies
• Supporting research, development and innovations for smart cities
• Supporting the creation of connected and online data networks for smart cities.
Rachada said the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) will hold a “Thailand Smart City Expo” at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre from November 22 to 24 to bring all sectors together to integrate their input and cooperation to build smart cities around the country.
She said the expo would feature technologies and innovations from 300 leading firms, which would be useful for developing smart cities.
