Thailand Planning To Store Court Records On Blockchain Platform

Thailand is making plans to move its largest court system on to a blockchain platform, instead. This was revealed by the Thai Office of Courts of Justice. According to the Office, it’s working towards moving the entire judicial information database it has, to a blockchain platform by 2021.

Going To A New Digital Age

The Office oversees more than 90% of the courts of the country, and announced through a press release made on Thursday that it’s been in the development of a new blockchain network for quite some time. As it stands now, it plans on moving all the records it has online by next year’s time. This stands as part of the efforts from Thailand’s government to digitize the public services of the country.

Not a lot of details was disclosed by the Office during this press release. The Office has opted out of stating what blockchain protocol it’s using to build its platform, or if it’s developing its own. The Office only revealed that the project is nearing its completion, with its officials being trained on how to use it within the coming weeks.

Asia As A Whole Innovating

This blockchain project stands as one of the latest in a string of projects by the Thai government to digitize its government, working towards a “Thailand 4.0” economic model. This model makes heavy use of emerging technology adoption, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and many more.

Thailand has joined many other Asian countries that have managed to integrate blockchain technology within its judicial system, with China being the leader of this push. The country had already integrated blockchain technology in a number of ways, one of which is recording hearings. Shanghai, one of China’s largest cities, stands as a pioneer of this, as courts there have been storing records on the blockchain for several months, now.

China Still Blockchain Leader

China has gained great success through the use of its smart courts, which rely heavily on AI and blockchain technology. Millions of cases have been settled since its formation back in 2019. These courts operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and have considerably eased the administrative burden on the courts of China. This allows for minor offenses to be quickly and easily settled.

In Japan, researchers have successfully launched a digital court powered by blockchain technology in April of this year. The court had initially handled civil cases only, but its creators had revealed that they plan to extend its mandate after the trial run is complete.