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Thailand Trialling Blockchain-Based Travel Visas

Thailand Blockchain Based Travel Visas

Blockchain is a technology that is constantly making headlines across the globe. In Thailand, distributed ledgers will play a major role in its Electronic Visa on Arrival project. Thailand has been experimenting with these virtual visas for some time now.

The new system will be rolled out very soon. It is expected this Thailand eVOA system will help 5 million visitors from 20 countries enter Thailand with less friction. By utilizing blockchain, the system can speed up and protect tourists and their identities accordingly.

This venture is an ongoing collaboration between Gateway Services and a blockchain-powered marketplace start-up. Thai officials have high hopes for eVOA and expect to focus on visitors from India and China during the initial stage.

Replacing these paper-based systems in the modern age is not an unnecessary luxury either. Travellers will no longer have to bring physical documents such as tickets and ID scans to the entry points in Thailand.

This is one of the few real-world use cases for blockchain technology. Depending on the success of eVOA, it may be rolled out further to accommodate more foreign entries into Thailand.

It is unclear how long the initial testing period will last. The Australian firm hopes to further expand its blockchain-based visa application system across different countries.

Blockchain in Thailand

It is believed that blockchain will achieve mass adoption in the next 3-5 years, but without mass adoption, many of these great projects will die because they will not be generating sufficient revenue. The key to blockchain’s survival is widely adopted use cases, OpenGov Asia reported earlier.

In Thailand, blockchain is being tested as a way to trade solar energy by the state-owned renewable energy firm BCPG.

Massive amounts of energy from rooftop solar is wasted because people have to go to work or leave the home and the energy is not used, one expert noted.

During summertime, an empty school with rooftop solar panels can sell surplus power to other buildings through smart contracts on the blockchain.

With the technology, buildings that generate their own energy can sell excess, unused power either back to the electric grid or to other homes and businesses through a peer-to-peer model.

The system is already being used at Chiang Mai University, where electric buses can both take and give back electricity to the school’s power grid.

Blockchain Across the World

Blockchain technology holds tremendous potential for applications across the globe.

OpenGov Asia reported that Australia’s Monash University recently launched a centre that will bring together world-leading researchers in blockchain technology in order to push the frontiers of research in the rapidly expanding field.

The Monash Blockchain Technology Centre (MBTC) will develop secure foundations for this technology from fintech to supply chain management. In addition, it will demonstrate its usability and practical outcomes.

The centre will also positively impact the community through ground-breaking research involving a variety of industries and societal sectors.

Through the Centre, people can be better educated on how blockchain technology can be used to solve real-world challenges.

The visionary research will bring this closer to realising its true potential. Blockchain is currently being used in areas such as digital health services, supply chain management, and the delivery of energy across smart grids.

OpenGov Asia also reported that the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) – will soon look for start-up firms, which will receive grants from a Singaporean company and the government agency.

Start-up firms involved in blockchain technology are being looked at as the recipients of a PHP15 million grant from the Singaporean blockchain firm.  Additionally, each chosen start-up company will also be receiving up to PHP1 million grants from the Department.

The application of blockchain technology is increasing across the globe. Governments are leading the charge by signing public-private partnerships (PPPs) and utilising the tech in unique ways.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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