Problems in gaining access to ancient manuscripts at the National Library has motivated more than 10,000 people to sign an online petition seeking to have them put online.
The government's Fine Arts Department has cited staff shortages and limited budgets as obstacles in the way of offering online access to the manuscripts.
Fine Arts Department director-general Borvornvate Runrujee said efforts to digitise the ancient manuscripts are encountering difficulties.
"The problem stems from our lack of resources, both financial and human," Mr Borvornvate said, adding officials are now working on an interim measure — an internal search engine that would help readers find books of manuscripts.
Mr Borvornvate was responding to a call from a group led by academic Praphatsorn Phosrithong, who on Thursday submitted the petition urging the National Library to put online the documents, particularly those originating before the era of King Rama V.
"Many people want to gain access to these documents,'' says Ms Praphatsorn. ''Many don't know where to find them, or even that they exist. The National Library's role is not only to preserve national archives but to pass them on to the largest possible number of people as well."
Readers can save time and energy if the documents are available online, she said. "I recently needed to see some Rama IV-era documents concerning textiles but found myself going through 18 directory listings of books, of no less than 50 pages each. I spent five days reading each line, looking for manuscripts containing appropriate information," she said. Ms Praphatsorn said she was prepared to raise funds for the online project if the state library has the same goal.
However, an ancient languages specialist with the National Library, Em-Orn Chawsuan, expressed concern the manuscripts, once put online, will not necessarily reach many readers.
"Most documents are written in the old-style Thai language. Older manuscripts were written in ancient alphabets which only scholars can decipher," she said. "To upload 'raw' archives would require huge effort, not only from our side but also from the IT department, for the benefit of only a very small circle of historians," she added. "The translated documents should be put online instead," she said.