The government’s 1.6-billion-baht TH-AI Passport project could become a focus of a no-confidence debate, according to the People’s Party, which says other projects overseen by the Bhumjaithai Party have followed a similar pattern.
The opposition alleges irregularities in procurement, pricing and project design, but the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has insisted the scheme complies with regulations and offers value for money.
Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, a People’s Party list MP with a background in technology and online entrepreneurship, questioned the origins of the project, which aims to expand public access to artificial intelligence tools through funding from the Digital Economy and Society Development Fund.
He said the project’s scale appeared to have been determined by the amount of money remaining in the fund rather than by real public demand.
Mr Pawoot said the government first allocated the entire 1.6-billion-baht budget and then calculated a target of five million users based on estimated annual AI usage costs.
‘The target did not originate from an assessment of what people actually need,’ he said on Wednesday.
The MP also raised concerns over the project’s terms of reference, claiming specifications appeared tailored to benefit certain businesses.
Although the scheme focuses on AI services, he questioned why the terms included requirements related to advertising systems in about 1,500 convenience stores and roughly 6,000 display screens nationwide.
Mr Pawoot said companies involved in setting reference prices and participating in the bidding process had links to the retail advertising sector, raising suspicions that the procurement process may have been designed to favour specific operators.
He said a similar pattern had emerged in projects managed by ministries previously overseen by the Bhumjaithai Party, citing programmes under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Education.
The lawmaker also criticised the procurement timetable, noting that invitations for bids were announced on Dec 24 during the Christmas and year-end holiday period. He said the process moved unusually quickly, with bidding closing only weeks later.
‘The project was opened and closed in just 34 days,’ he said, suggesting potential bidders would have needed prior knowledge of the project to prepare proposals in time.
Reports have circulated online that SET-listed Plan B Media Plc developed an Android app called AI Passport, which appeared briefly in the Google Play store before being taken down in October last year.
People who had a chance to review the app said its features were very similar to the TH-AI Passport that was first proposed to the economic cabinet on Nov 8.
Plan B subsequently issued a statement clarifying that it is not involved in the government’s project, nor was it a contracting party or participant in the procurement process.