Varavudh Silpa-archa, secretary to the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment, said the use of open-source software was consistent with Thailands ninth National Economy and Social Development Plan, which focuses on self-reliance in the economy.
It is estimated that around 23 billion baht (approximately $514 million) will be spent on imported software, which accounts for 90 percent of software use in Thailand.
"To be independent from foreign software, the country needs to build a knowledge base along with developing human resources and work based on open-source software," Varavudh said. "We must encourage Thai people to develop Open Source software programs for Thais."
He cited the example of China, where the government recently announced a policy to use open-source software.
A member of a government sub-committee for science and technology last week proposed having a specification for open-source software in government IT bidding projects. No decision has been made but it is likely that the idea will be supported, a source on the committee said.
The sub-committee also recently agreed in principle to set up a Linux Expertise Centre.
The center will offer training and consulting services for Linux projects, and approximately 4 million baht ($89,445) is expected to be granted in the initial phase. In addition, the government is also considering supporting the Thai-language Star Office suite.
Varavudh said it is possible that when the program is launched at the end of this year, every government agency will be encouraged to use it.
The National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (NECTEC) is also involved in a project to promote the use of open source software.
The NECTEC will give away 1,200 CDs containing another Thai-language office suite called "Open Office TLE" (Ta-le in Thai) at a seminar and exhibition titled "Open Source Software of Thailand," which will be held from November 21 to 24 at Software Park.
In addition, the NECTEC also offers Linux SIS, a Thai version of the Linux operating system for Internet servers. To date, the software has been widely used among the 3,000 schools in the countrys SchoolNet project.
Karnjana Karnjanatawe, Bangkok Post, Special to Newsbytes
