GOOGLE Thailand yesterday launched a series of initiatives, including free high-speed public Wi-Fi, to enable more Thai consumers and businesses to participate in the growth of the digital economy.
The initiatives were announced at the
first Google for Thailand event, held in Bangkok under the theme “Leave
no Thai behind”, aimed at promoting equality of digital access.
Ben King, country director of Google Thailand, said at the event that
the Google’s initiatives would span across the four pillars: access,
education, content and products and small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs).
“They were designed to ensure that all Thais would have opportunities
and know-how to access technology and use it to build livelihoods,” he
said.
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King said Thailand is rapidly growing digital economy. He showed a
projection of digital economic opportunity in Thailand worth US$37
billion, while the opportunity in Southeast Asia is US$200 billion.
Moreover, Thailand is No 5 for average peak connection speed, or 106 MB
per second. Ranking first is Singapore, followed by Hong Kong, South
Korea, and Qatar, according to Akamai Technologies, a content delivery
network and cloud service provider.
Thailand is second for highest mobile Internet adoption in Asean, having 90 per cent of 3G/4G coverage across the country.
The event was also attended by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, who
delivered a speech on the vital role that digital technology will play
in achieving the government’s 20-year national strategic plan. However,
he urged netizens to learn how to use the benefits of digital technology
but not be used by it.
One of the highlights launched yesterday was Google Station, a
high-speed public Wi-Fi programme undertaken in Thailand, in partnership
with CAT Telecom, sponsored by Unilever.
Google Station will start in 10 venues across Bangkok and in two
provinces, Pichit and Loei, and will be expanded to other parts of the
country in the coming months, allowing more Thais to access a free and
reliable Internet connection, said Anjali Joshi, vice president of
product management.
Currently, locations available for the free Wi-Fi services in Bangkok
include Hualamphong train station and Megabangna shopping mall. To
register, people should go to @FreeGoogleStation-CAT Wi-Fi system and
enter their mobile number and name.
Thailand is the fourth country to have Google Station, after India, Indonesia and Mexico.
King also announced the construction of the Academy Bangkok – A Google
Space, a digital skills training facility at True Digital Park in
Bangkok.
It will open later this year and will be a new training venue for
participants of the Google Ignite programme, a two-month digital
marketing training course that prepares university students for careers
in Thai companies.
Google also introduced a new feature, Motorbike Mode, for Google Maps in Thailand.
Krish Vitaldevara, product lead for Google Maps, said the new feature
will help Thailand’s 20 million motorcyclists to plan routes taking into
account shortcuts and narrow roads that only motorbikes and scooters
can take and offers more accurate travel times that reflect motorbike
speed.
To support Thailand’s ever-growing YouTube community, Mukpim Anantachai,
head of YouTube partnership, YouTube Thailand, said the company would
relaunch the YouTube Pop-Up Space in Bangkok in November to give Thai
creators access to state-of-the-art production facilities.
During the announcement, Mukpim also unveiled a new data plan in
partnership with AIS. It will offer unlimited data packs at Bt59 per
month for YouTube Go, an app that allows viewers in Thailand to watch
and share YouTube videos even with slow or no Internet connection.
Lastly, Google Thailand announced collaboration with Siam Commercial
Bank to allow SMEs to sign up and be verified for Google My Business, a
free business listing on Google Search and Google Maps, through SCB
personnel who will visit SMEs at their stores.
Source - TheNation
