“Prasert” confirms government supports drone use and accepts proposals to amend regulations

Prasert" confirms that the government supports the use of drones, indicating that it is beneficial to both farmers and helps in disasters. He also accepts suggestions to amend some regulations to facilitate farmers to use drones correctly. Dr. Premsak Piayura, Senator, asked about the guidelines for promoting the use of drones because he sees that they are very useful at present, both in helping with disasters, floods, transportation or agricultural management, which should help increase production, both in sowing seeds and applying pesticides to reduce agricultural costs. Therefore, he would like to ask what guidelines the government has for government agencies and the private sector to use drones to help manage disasters, in emergencies, including agricultural assistance, and whether the government has allocated a budget in 2025 for local areas to purchase drones to carry out various activities. Mr. Prasert Jantarawongthong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Economy and Society, responded to t he question that the government places great importance on using drones to solve problems of floods, storms, and agriculture. In the past, when there were floods, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society used drones to survey and assess the situation in the area and to deliver water, food, and essentials to inaccessible areas. The ministry also has the HelpT application to warn people in various areas and to forward information to various local administrative organizations. Drones are also used to survey areas in the application, including the One Tambon, One Digital project, which has received a lot of attention from the public and has approximately 500 drones working in 4 million rai of land nationwide, creating an economic impact of over 20 billion baht. Mr. Prasert said that the Ministry of Digital Affairs has a digital service account to set drone standards, to set the average price and standards of drones, for the security and safety of data, which is a sensitive matter. We can collect a lot of data . The ministry has developed an application that is owned by Thais. It is a drone product produced in Thailand and the data will be kept in Thailand for more security than drones purchased from abroad. The government does not provide special subsidies or budgets directly to local agencies, but the government supports through various ministries. These things can be budgeted by local administrative organizations to purchase drones. However, the use of drones has limitations because drone pilots must undergo the required training and drone repair centers must be established in various areas. The ministry has already set up centers in various areas. The government supports this and sees it as necessary to reduce time, costs, and burdens for the people. During floods and other situations, drones can be used to survey the area. Dr. Premsak talked about the law that will regulate the use of drones, and he would like the government to consider how to regulate the law to be comprehensive, which will help the people who use drones and their owners, because there have been many cases where they have received complaints that they were arrested for using drones. Mr. Prasert said that using drones requires permission because there are many terms and conditions. Drones come in many sizes and involve data. As for farmers who will use drones and do not know how to apply for permission, he will accept the matter and will go back to do it as soon as possible to facilitate farmers who will use drones that are beneficial in various ways. Or there may be some amendments to the regulations to keep them within the framework that can be implemented as much as possible. Source: Thai News Agency