Digital Governance: Challenges and Opportunities for Thai Public Administration

Abstract

This academic article aims to examine digital governance and its impact on Thai public administration amid the accelerated transition to digital government catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study analyzes challenges and opportunities in applying governance principles within Thailand's digital context. The findings reveal that Thailand's digital governance development faces challenges in structure and systems, personnel and organizational culture, as well as legal frameworks and security concerns. This has led to new knowledge synthesized into the “Thai Integrated Digital Governance Model” with six key components. Analysis of digital governance development trends indicates that a crucial factor requiring attention is recognizing that development involves not merely adopting technology but reforming the paradigm and management methods of the entire public sector. This aligns with the perspective of modern public administration scholars who view reform as necessarily holistic in approach. In conclusion, opportunities arising from digital governance development lead to advancement toward Smart Government characterized by three key attributes: Transparency, Efficiency, and Responsiveness, which truly represent the ultimate goals of good public administration in the 21st century.