Opposition Demands Digital Ministry Halt Flawed AI Passport Program

On July 27, 2025, opposition legislator Kaladee Lieopairot, deputy leader of the Democrat Party, led a delegation to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to formally petition Digital Economy Minister Chaiyachok Chidchob to review, revise, or cancel the TH-AI Passport program, a 1.621 billion baht initiative designed to boost digital and artificial intelligence skills among Thai citizens.

Kaladee stated that she and her party seek sustainable and transparent innovation in Thailand and have raised five key concerns for the ministry to address. First, they cite doubts about procurement transparency and process irregularities, including abnormal haste in project approval and changes to critical terms during the interim government period, along with conditions that risk favoring specific contractors unfairly. Second, they argue the program offers poor value, noting that testing revealed the AI Pass system performs worse than free commercial alternatives, and that a similar project by another agency (OKMD) achieved comparable results with just 2.4 million baht, making the 1.621 billion baht investment wasteful and failing to create lasting innovation infrastructure.

Third, the opposition points to lack of transparency in the pay-per-use payment model, which lacks clear criteria for counting tokens and defining active users, risking overpayment and policy fraud without strict monitoring. Fourth, they argue the program violates its own terms of reference by sending user data abroad for processing on foreign servers, contradicting the requirement to store and process data within Thailand and threatening long-term data sovereignty. Fifth, they note the AI Pass system falls short of the pro or premium-tier capabilities mandated in the original specifications. The opposition maintains these concerns can be addressed through legal procurement procedures while prioritizing Thailand's public interest.