Above photo: Lt Gen Satit Pittarat, Chairman of the Board at Thailand Post, showing the smart postbox/ Credit: Thailand Post
Thailand Post, a state enterprise that provides postal services in Thailand, announced a series of initiatives to move towards Thailand Post 4.0, in line with the government’s Thailand 4.0 drive. This includes the application of technology and innovation to the system in all processes, including deposit, sorting, forwarding and delivering for enhanced operational efficiency, as well as steps to support and promote the growth of the digital economy.
The roadmap will focus on modernising postal standards and meeting raised customer expectations in the digital age. In addition, Thailand Post will contribute to the nation’s economic development by leveraging the strengths of the postal network.
Thailand Post is going to develop its postal and delivery business ecosystem to serve as a logistics hub for the government's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project in Chonburi province, by 2019 and facilitate the transportation of goods by land, sea and air.
Thailand Post is looking at three areas to drive local e-commerce growth. Firstly, it plans to boost its e-commerce capabilities by developing an e-Marketplace and platform through its portal, www.thailandpostmart.com, which would be a national market place. Another area is e-logistics, where Thailand Post will develop delivery channels for e-commerce customers. This includes C2C (customer-to-customer) fulfilment solutions and drop-off services at convenient locations selected by the customer.
The third area is e-payments. Thailand Post will develop a new payment gateway channel to support the use of digital wallets.
In another project, Smart postboxes will be used to deliver tourist information, such as nearby attractions, restaurants, souvenir outlets and local product shops, in addition to usual postal deliveries. The information can be accessed by scanning a QR code on the phone. These are expected to support small entrepreneurs and stimulate the local economy. In the first stage, 15 of the postboxes have been installed in Phitsanulok province, before being expanded to other areas later this year.
The President of Thailand Post, Samorn Terdthampiboon, said that a revenue target of 26 billion Baht (USD 782 million) has been set for 2017. During the first half of 2017, net profit grew by 18% over the same period during the previous year, driven by growth of the e-commerce business, which contributed 42% of revenue.
Bangkok Post also reported recently that the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and Thailand Post will apply the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain technology to improve their logistics services.
