The Thai government announced on Tuesday that it is working with six telcos to provide free Internet service to state officials and employees of state enterprises for three months, as 24 ministries and the agencies and state enterprises under them prepare to transition to remote work for the pandemic period.

This move comes after extensive discussions between the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and various private companies in the ICT sector. In addition to free Internet service, state employees will be able to download four of the most widely used digital platforms—Microsoft Team, Cisco Webex, Google Hangouts, and Line—to support their work and documentation procedures. The four platforms use the freemium model, where a large range of basic services are available for free but users can get increased functionality, such as a larger number of meeting participants or the ability to record conversations, through paid subscriptions.

In the Tuesday press briefing, Minister for Digital Economy and Society Buddhipongse Punnakanta said that more than half of the work done by state officials and employees of state agencies can be carried out remotely. For his own ministry, where some departments are scheduled to start working from home on Friday, the number is around 60 percent.

The government is also looking into whether legal hindrances exist to remote work, and is planning to adjust regulations accordingly to avoid any legal backlash from carrying out government work online.

The Thai government is not the first to implement remote work for the safety of state employees, although if half of state employees actually end up on a work from home scheme, its decision may be one of the more sweeping. Last week, the UAE government declared it was implementing remote work, but only for the more vulnerable segment of its employees, including expecting mothers, seniors, and those with respiratory or immune system conditions.