The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society will be officially established this week, replacing the Information and Communication Technology Ministry (ICT), says a ministerial source.
The new ministry, which will take over the responsibilities from the ICT Ministry, will be officially debuted after the announcement is made in the Royal Gazette, expected by Friday.
All except one of the units under the ICT Ministry will come under the new body.
They are the National Statistical Office, the Meteorological Department, TOT Plc, CAT Telecom Plc, Thailand Post Co Ltd, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, the Thailand Software Industry Promotion Agency and the Electronic Government Agency.
The National Disaster Warning Center will be the only agency to be transferred to the Interior Ministry.
The new ministry will be tasked with planning, promoting, developing and implementing activities aimed at transforming Thailand into a digital society and economy in line with the government's policy.
A source said that there were three candidates to become its minister, replacing incumbent ICT Minister , who will likely fail to retain his ministerial position at the new ministry.
Incumbent ICT Minister Uttama Savanayana may lose his seat once the new ministry is set up. (Bangkok Post file photo)
ICT Minister Uttama Savanayana said earlier that he would have to resign from his position once the new ministry begins work officially.
He has already cancelled a plan to attend the "Startup Thailand and Digital Thailand 2016" event to be held at Royal Phuket Marina in Phuket on Sept 16-18, where the Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will deliver a speech.
Two of the three candidates will likely come from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) -- vice-chairman Sethapong Malisuwan and secretary-general Takorn Tantasith. The other candidate is a senior Finance Ministry official.
The new ministry will set up two new ministerial agencies -- the National Digital Economy Committee and the Digital Economy Promotion Agency -- to take responsibility for the development of the digital economy.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will chair the National Digital Economy Committee.
Permanent secretary Songporn Komolsuradej, however, will stay on as permanent secretary of the new ministry to aid in the transition.