Term or Acronym | Description |
---|---|
3GPP | Originally the Third Generation standards body; now for 5G. More |
4G | Fourth generation mobile – the worldwide basis for most mobile broadband cellular services, includes cell hand-off |
4 IR | Fourth Industrial Revolution, also referred to as Industrie 4.0 (see Industrie 4.0/Industry 4.0), it is about cyber-physical systems. See also Thailand 4.0 |
ABAC | APEC Business Advisory Council |
ABTC | ASEAN Business Travel Card |
ACN | Anti-Corruption Network. A private-sector body. Former name (up to 2012) of Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand (ACT), see ACT. More |
ACT | Anti Corruption Organisation of Thailand, a Foundation from 2014. Formerly ACN. More |
AD | Anno Domini – the year of our Lord. Dates using the Gregorian calendar – see also BE |
ADSL | Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (see also DSL); a lower speed broadband technology using copper wires. xDSL indicates variants |
AEC | ASEAN Economic Community |
AFAS | ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services |
AFTA | ASEAN Free Trade Area |
Agile | Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation; a forum for 21 Pacific-rim member economies that seeks to promote open trade and practical economic cooperation. Established 1989. More and more |
AIC | Asia Internet Coalition |
AMS | ASEAN Member State |
APEC | Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation; a forum for 21 Pacific-rim member economies that seeks to promote open trade and practical economic cooperation. Established 1989. More and More |
ASEAN | Association of Southeast Asian Nations |
ASEAN CSAP | Consolidated Strategic Action Plan (part of the AEC 2025 Blueprint) |
ASOCIO | Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (regional grouping – ATCI is Thailand member) |
ASW | ASEAN Single Window (for customs) – see also NSW |
ATCI | Association of Thai ICT Industry (formerly called Association of Thai Computer Industry) |
ATIGA | ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement |
ATISA | ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement; post-dates AFAS |
ATR | ASEAN Trade Repository |
ATSI | Association of Thai Software Industry |
B2B | Business to Business – an eCommerce term |
B2C | Business to Consumer – an eCommerce term; see also G2C |
BE | Buddhist Era; calendar used for Thai dates which is typically 543 years more than the Gregorian calendar, using AD (Anno Domini –the year of our Lord, referring to the birth of Christ). eg AD 2017 = BE 2560. |
BMA | Bangkok Metropolitan Administration |
Bogor Goals | APEC goals for trade and investment liberalization which were defined at the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Bogor, Indonesia in 1994. They are the basis of Business Mobility which underpins the ABTC. More |
BOI | Board of Investment |
BoI | Bureau of Immigration |
BoT | Bank of Thailand; (more commonly than Board of Trade) |
BOT | Build – Operate – Transfer. Most commonly a way of creating and running concession-era hard infrastructure in the telecoms sector in Thailand. |
BSA | Business Software Alliance |
BTO | Build-Transfer-Operate (see also BOT) |
CAC | Collective Action Coalition Against Corruption, a private sector project of Thai IoD which acts as the secretariat. More See also ACT. |
CCA | Computer Crimes Act 2007 amended 2017 |
CCM | Creative Chiang Mai – previously Chiang Mai Creative City Development organization. |
CDN | Content Delivery Network |
CHE; OHEC | Higher Education Commission; part of MHESRI since 2019. Office of HEC runs the Commission. |
CII | Critical Information Infrastructure. Public or privately-owned communications or internet infrastructure designated as having a relevant security purpose under the Cybersecurity Act |
Circular Economy | Aims at eliminating waste through continual re-use of resources |
Cloud | Refers to the internet, supporting the delivery of services to users on demand from a provider’s servers rather than their own |
Competency Framework | A structure for classifying and describing skills, often based on an industry or sector. |
COVID 19 | Short version of the name given to the virus outbreak ‘Coronavirus’, that has come to be used for the general pandemic which started in 2019. The virus that caused the outbreak is known as SARS-CoV-2. |
COVID 19 Testing | 2 main types: PCR (assesses the presence of virus in patients), antibody testing (detects the presence of antibodies, cannot be used in early stages of the disease), and others (such as CT scans – but low specificity: not possible to know whether respiratory symptoms are due to SARS-CoV-2 or other disorders such as pneumonia) |
CPTPP | Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership; also known as TPP11. |
CSF | Critical Success Factor |
CTS | Council for Trade in Services. The discussion and disputes resolution body of GATS, based in Geneva. |
Data Localisation | The requirement that data must be maintained (hosted) in one national jurisdiction and not sent across borders, or even kept on-premises. Justification is about sensitive medical or financial information and may be on nationalistic grounds. More |
DB | ‘Doing Business’ term used by World Bank for the ease of doing business rankings relying on ten or so criteria. |
DBD | Department of Business Development in MoC |
DE | See MDES |
DoE | Department of Employment (in MoL) |
DEPA | Digital Economy Promotion Agency |
DFT | Department of Foreign Trade, in MoC |
Digitisation | or Digitalisation. The process of reform whereby an organization goes digital, meaning it is transformed to support data collection, analysis and application; revised business processes and automation. A key part of Industry 4.0 |
Digital Economy | All economic activity mediated by software and enabled by telecoms infrastructure. The Digital Economy grows by (i) digitization of off-line or analogue processes or services; (ii) new, native digital products or services. More |
DIP | Department of Intellectual Property, in MOC |
DITP | Department of International Trade Promotion in MoC |
DLA | Department of Local Administration |
DSL | Digital subscriber line (variants include VDSL, ADSL; generically xDSL) |
EABC | European Association for Business and Commerce (like a ‘Eurocham Thailand’); a Trade Association |
EAEU | Eurasian Economic Union; so far with five member states |
EAFTA | East Asian Free Trade Area |
EC | European Council sets the general political directions and priorities of the EU through heads of government as Council members; European Commission is an executive cabinet of public officials, led by an indirectly elected President. EC more commonly refers to the European Commission |
EDTA | Electronic Transactions Development Agency |
EEC | Eastern Economic Corridor, a special regime zone located in the Eastern Seaboard |
EGA | Electronic Government Agency |
EGAT | Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand |
ETDA | Electronic Transactions Development Agency |
ETSI | European standards body for telecommunications. More here |
EU | European Union –political and economic confederation of 28 European states. |
EU-ABC | EU-ASEAN Business Council, a regional, European grouping incorporated in Singapore as a Society, mainly dominated by large companies rather than by regional ‘Eurocham’ members |
EUD | Delegation of the EU – like an EU Embassy or foreign mission |
Fake News | Information appearing to be valid news or other information which has incorrect statements of fact or falsehoods. JFCCT has compiled policy recommendations on what Fake News should address. MDES has an Anti- Fake News Centre here |
FBA | Foreign Business Act AD 1999 BE 2542 |
FDI | Foreign Direct Investment |
FDN | Foreign Dominance Notification (revised and re-issued in 2012 by NBTC) |
FEA | Foreign Employment Act AD 2008. Defines ‘work’ in s. 5. Repealed and replaced by a labour Decree (#1) which can into effect on 23 June 2017, Amended by another labour Decree (#2) with effect from March 2018. Changed definition of ‘work’ and where a work permit is needed, to some extent. |
FEL | Foreign Equity Limits |
FTA | Free Trade Agreement |
FTI | Federation of Thai Industries |
FTTH | Fibre-to-the-home |
FTTN | Fibre-to-the-node |
FTTP | Fibre-to-the-premises |
G2C | Government to Citizen. An on-line term |
G2G | Government to Government. An on-line term for intra-government interaction |
G.fast | a digital subscriber line (DSL) protocol for local loops shorter than 500 m, with performance targets around 500 Mbps |
G.hn | Giga home networking with data rates around 1 Gbps. An ITU-T standard under the G.9963 standard |
GATS | General Agreement on Trade in Services. Four Modes of service trade |
GATT | General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade |
G-DSL | Same as G.hn but introduced in Thailand at TOT in 2017 as G-DSL (Gigabit over cobber wire, coaxial cables or power lines) |
GDPR | General Data Protection Regulation entered into force May 2018. Replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. Designed to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe. More. See also PDPA and Seminar Booklet. |
GMS | Greater Mekong Subregion |
GSM | Global System for Mobiles |
GSMA | GMS Association - GSM based industry association for mobile operators |
GSP | Generalised System of Preferences. A programme of preferences on tariffs which developed countries grant developing countries; developing countries can export some specific industrial and semi-industrial products into developed countries with a much lower level of tariffs than for developed countries. |
Guillotine | A method of Fast Track Regulatory Reform relying loosely on APEC Good Regulatory Practices (GRP). |
H.E. | His/Her Excellency. A title of respect for certain offices, used for Heads of foreign missions (eg Ambassadors) and Ministers. |
HetNet | Heterogeneous Network – eg WiFi + LTE |
HSPA | High Speed Packet Access (a mobile cellular multiplexing standard) |
ICDL | International Computer Driving Licence, ICDL Foundation is an international organisation dedicated to raising digital competence standards in the workforce, education and society. Trains in digital skills, including digital literacy. |
ICSID | International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, a World Bank body established 1966. Main activity: private investor: foreign investor state. Of 166 signatories, Thailand is one of only 8 non members. More" |
IEAT | Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand |
IEEE | US based standards body, publishing standards for WiFi for example (802.11) |
Industrie 4.0 / Industry 4.0 | Connected, intelligent industry. More Intelligent, networked systems: previously separated production environments are combined to produce universal production worlds, which are partly of a physical nature, and partly attain a new functionality in the cyber space of web connectivity (ie cyber-physical systems). . See also Thailand 4.0; See also 4IR. |
IoT | Internet of Things – devices which have IP addresses so they can connect M2M. |
IP | Internet Protocol (packet based). Intellectual Property |
IPR | Intellectual Property Rights |
IPTV | Internet Protocol Television; distribution of video programming (one way) by means of the Internet Protocol. |
ISACA | Information Systems Audit & Control Ass’n (has a Bangkok chapter) |
ISP | Most commonly, Internet Service Provider. In an Intellectual Property context, Intermediary Service Provider (or On-line Intermediary), referring to a range of service providers which operate between the rights holders and end users or buyers. Such ISPs include on-line merchants, on-line market places, social media platforms; data centre operators, mobile broadband service providers and potentially payment service providers. 2017 amendments to the CCA and proposed amendments to the Copyright Act regulate the circumstances in which such ISPs may or may not be responsible for IPR infringements. |
ITA | IT Agreement, a WTO agreement most recently done in 2015 with updates through 2017 |
ITGI | IT Governance Institute |
sITIL | IT Infrastructure Library |
ITSMF | IT Service Management Forum |
ITSS | IT Skill Standards for IT Professionals |
ITU | International Telecommunications Union (UN agency) |
JETRO | Japan Regional Trade Organisation. More here |
JSCCIB | Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking, comprising the Thai Bankers Association, Board of Trade and FTI. |
KPI | Key Performance Indicator |
KWh | Kilowatt hours, A measure of electricity consumption – I,000 watts used for one hour. |
LFA | Licence Facilitation Act |
LTE | Long Term Evolution – the ‘4G’ standard in the GSM world |
M Industry | Ministry of Industry |
M2M | Machine-to-machine |
MB, GB | MegaBytes, GigaBytes (a size) |
Mbps | Mega bits per second (a speed or rate of data flow) |
MDES | Ministry of Digital Economy & Society, successor to MICT. Sometimes called ‘DE’ |
MEA | Metropolitan Electricity Authority |
MFA | Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
MHESRI | The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. Founded in 2019 from the Ministry of Education by transfers of agencies and MOST . Agencies. MoE |
MHz, GHz | Typically used to refer to wavelengths or parts of the spectrum. Hz = hertz (frequency). Mega, Giga. |
MICT | Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, succeeded by MDES. |
MNO | Mobile Network Operator |
MoC | Ministry of Commerce; with more Departments than most Ministries. Departments/Agenices |
MoE | Ministry of Education |
MoF | Ministry of Finance |
MoI | Ministry of the Interior |
MoL | Ministry of Labour |
MOST | Ministry of Science & Technology |
MoTS | Ministry of Tourism & Sports |
MoU | Minutes of Use (used in telecoms); Memorandum of Understanding |
Mpbs per MHz | A measure of spectral efficiency – speed per amount of bandwidth available. |
MRA | Mutual Recognition Arrangement, an AEC instrument for recognition of skills in about eight professions or callings. |
MSM | Multi-stakeholder model, a form of internet governance which recognises civil society, business, government. |
MSME | Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. See also SME |
MVNA | Mobile Virtual Network Aggregator |
MVNE | Mobile Virtual Network Enabler |
MVNO | Mobile Virtual Network Operator |
MWh | Megawatt hours. A measure of electricity consumption. |
NACC | National Anti-Corruption Commission |
NBH | National Broadband Holding Co. Holding company which is planned to administer Thailand’s rural (and possibly wider) broadband policy |
NBN | National Broadband Network; a generic term in many countries (and specific in some – eg Australia) |
NBTC | National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission |
NCCC | National Counter Corruption Commission (former name of NACC, changed in 2008) |
NCPO | National Council for Peace and Order (military junta) |
NECTEC | National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre |
NESDB | National Economic and Social Development Board |
NewTech | Generic term; refers to areas of newer application-based technology for enterprise or consumer use, including FinTech (finance and banking services applications); RegTech (using technology to facilitate delivery of regulatory requirements); MediTech (medical technology); EduTech etc. |
NLA | National Legislative Assembly (current unicameral parliament) |
Notification | A subordinate law, made under an Act or Decree; can also refer to an interpretation of a law. |
NRC | National Reform Council |
NRSA | National Reform Steering Assembly, was an organ of the NCPO |
NSTDA; NSTDC | National Science & Technology Development Agency; upgraded to National Science & Technology Development Council |
NSW | National Single Window (for customs) see also ASW |
NTB | Non Tariff Barrier |
NTC | National Telecommunications Commission, the predecessor to the NBTC; in operation 2004 to 2011. Its sister body NBC (National Broadcasting Commission) was never formed. The 2007 constitution required a ‘merged’ regulator, hence the NBTC. |
NTMs | Non-Tariff Measures |
OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) | a machine to machine communication protocol for industrial automation developed by the OPC Foundation. More and more |
OPDC | Office of Public Sector Development Commission |
OSMEP | Office of SME Promotion, a statutory authority |
OSOS | One Start One Stop Investment Centre, a BOI run facility Centre, a BOI run facility More |
OTT | Over-The-Top; delivery of content over a network without the involvement of a multiple-system operator in the control or distribution of the content; content rides on a network provided on an open basis by network operator. Some argue that OTT operators unfairly use data network capacity without compensating network operator. |
P2P | Computing or networking via a distributed application architecture which partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application |
P2P lending | Lending money to individuals or businesses through online services that match lenders with borrowers (Peer to Peer) |
PACC | Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission |
PATA | Pacific Asia Travel Association |
PCA | Pattaya City Administration |
PDP | Power Development Plan issued periodically by Ministry of Energy (eg 2015; 2018 plan issued 2019 with revision in 2020). |
PDPA | Personal Data Protection Act – in force in stages: 28 May 2019 and 31 May 2021. |
PDPC | Personal Data Protection Committee , the central body which administers the PDPA, formed in May 2020. |
PEA | Provincial Electricity Authority |
PPP | Public Private Partnership – based on a law of the same name. |
PPP | Purchasing Power Parity (a GDP adjustment for per capita GDP). |
RCEP | Regional Comprehensive and Economic Partnership. 16 participants. More |
ROO | Rules of Origin (for trade in goods, and customs), and are the criteria needed to determine the national source of a product. |
Rule of Law | The concept that Laws enacted by a recognized process, as part of a system of law, rule over all other means of power and control. More and More. ‘Law and Order’ is a different concept. |
s.44 | A provision of the interim charter allowing the NCPO to make orders which have the status of law. Although the interim charter is succeeded by the 2017 Constitution, s. 265 of the Constitution allows for continued use of s.44 up until the 2019 election and the new government formed min 2019. |
SAP SMED | ASEAN Strategic Action Plan for SME Development More. See also SME and MSME |
SDG | Sustainable Development Goal – 17 UN-promoted goals for sustainable development. |
SIPA | Software Industry Promotion Agency, under MICT. Now reconstituted as Digital Economy Development Agency (DEPA) under MDES. |
SOE | State-Owned Enterprise |
SOP | Standard Operating Procedure(s) |
SME | Small and Medium Enterprises; see also MSME |
SPA | Asia Oceania Regional Software Park Alliance |
Spectral Efficiency | The capacity of a defined amount of bandwidth to support data throughput – usually measured in Mbps per MHz of bandwidth. Depends on the multiplexing process which has various standards. |
STC | Strategic Talent Centre BOI promotion for Skills, Technology, Industry |
STI | National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office More |
Sustainable / Sustainabilty | Various uses and misuses. Can mean that a business plan shows a positive bottom line (ie net revenue); or that an organisation is operating according to some key SDGs. |
TAA | Trade Associations Act, governs the form of organization known as an Association or Trade Association |
TAT | Tourism Authority of Thailand; |
TBA | Telecom Business Act (amended in 2006) |
TCA | Trade Competition Act AD 1999, BE 2542; amended 2017 |
TCC | Thai Chamber of Commerce (one of constituent bodies Board of Trade) |
TCT | Tourism Council of Thailand; under Ministry of Touism & Sports |
TCEB | Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (under PMs office) |
TCT | Tourism Council of Thailand (combination of THA, ATTA, Thai Inter, TAT and several other industry bodies under the Tourism Act) |
TCT [sic] | Telecom Association of Thailand |
TDRI | Thailand Development Research Institute |
TELMIN | An ASEAN body; Telecommunications Ministers Meeting |
TELSOM | An ASEAN body; Telecommunications Senior Officials meeting |
TFA | Trade Facilitation Agreement, a WTO agreement. (There is no Investment Facilitation Agreement in WTO, some states argue that investment is a bilateral matter). More |
Thai IOD | Thailand Institute of Directors |
Thailand 4.0 | A national vision based on the assumptions and principles of Industry 4.0 or 4 IR |
TICA | Thai Incentive and Convention Association |
TISA | Thailand Information Security Association. More |
TiSA | Plurilateral Trade in Services Agreement; made outside GATS |
TPP11 | Trans-Pacific Partnership without the US; also known as Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). |
TRIDI | Telecommunications Research and Industrial Development Institute (part of NBTC)) |
TRIPS | WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights |
USF | Universal Service Fund |
USO | Universal Service Obligation |
VAT | Value Added Tax. Levied on the gross margin at each point in the manufacturing-distribution-sales process of an item. Currently at 7% |
WHT | Withholding Tax – levied on income; rate varies depending on application More |
WiFi | Nomadic (eg no mobility or cell hand-off) broadband service. IEEE 802.11 standard, with -b,g,n,ac and other variants. |
WTO | World Trade Organization |
Top level organisations are Ministries. Within Ministries are Departments and Agencies.
Examples: Ministry of Commerce has several Departments including DBD (Department of Business Development); DIP (Department of Intellectual Property).
Some Exceptions:
Board of Investment is a statutory agency established by the Investment Promotion Act (IPA). It is under the OPM (Office of Prime Minister).
Bureau of Immigration is a Bureau of the Royal Thai Police