AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS IN THAILAND’S PUBLIC SECTOR: GOVERNANCE PATTERNS AND CULTURALLY GROUNDED PATHWAYS

Abstract

Artificial intelligence in government is increasingly discussed in relation to digital transformation, administrative modernization, and public value, yet there remains a need for grounded empirical work that shows where autonomous and semi-autonomous systems are visible in public institutions and what their spread means for governance in practice. This article offers a descriptive mapping of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems associated with Thailand’s public sector and uses that mapping to interpret institutional concentration, sectoral clustering, transparency gaps, and governance implications. Rather than treating public-sector AI as a single uniform phenomenon, the study distinguishes among different degrees of autonomy, different levels of evidentiary strength, and different forms of institutional and operational use. The findings suggest that Thailand has moved beyond simple digitization in several important domains of public administration, especially in settings linked to monitoring, verification, prediction, risk control, and operational optimization. At the same time, governance maturity appears uneven across sectors and agencies, and public visibility remains inconsistent, raising questions about legitimacy, accountability, transparency, and human oversight. The article argues that Thailand shows meaningful governance momentum, but that future progress will depend on stronger transparency, more consistent oversight, and governance approaches that are not only technically and legally credible but also socially intelligible and culturally grounded.