DE Ministry halts plan to expand 1,200 new digital community centres for review

The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DE) has temporarily suspended the planned expansion of 1,200 new Digital Community Centres nationwide after Minister Chaichanok Chidchob instructed the National Board of Digital Economy and Society Office (BDE) to reassess the project’s value and efficiency.

According to BDE secretary-general Wetang Phuangsup, the review aims to determine whether the expansion remains worthwhile given that the initiative has been operating for over a decade. 

Some centres, he said, may have become redundant as more citizens now have access to the internet through mobile and home broadband services.

Thailand currently has 2,222 Digital Community Centres established across 77 provinces. The original plan, launched in 2023 under then-minister Prasert Jantararuangtong of the Pheu Thai Party, aimed to expand the network by 1,200 additional centres and integrate Thailand Post branches as digital learning hubs for e-commerce training.

Each centre costs around 400,000 baht annually to operate and serves as a digital learning space for low-income residents, the elderly, people with disabilities, and other disadvantaged groups. 

Most are located in easily accessible public areas such as temples, mosques, village offices, schools, and libraries.

The programme forms part of the government’s broader strategy to strengthen grassroots economies and narrow the digital divide through the “sustainable digital community ecosystem development project,” aligned with the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Plan II (2017–2021).