Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Trairong Suwankhiri, Dr. Pairash Thajchayapong, Director of National Science and Technology Agency (NSTDA), and Mr. Somkit Jiranuntarut, Chairman of Stock Exchange of Thailand Y2K Command Center, gave a press conference at 16:00 hours on January 1, 2000. Apparently the first day of the year experienced only minor glitches. Financial sector, led by Bank of Thailand and Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), passed their first industry-wide Y2K tests for the millennium.

According to Dr. Trairong, the situation at National Y2K Command Center is calm. Since 10:00 hours of December 31, 1999 until 15:00 hours of January 1, 2000, there have been a total of 1,348 calls, of which 1,108 were inquiries and 240 were reported incidents. Ninety-nine cases of these incidents were related to telecommunications; 54 cases were related to power and energy; 14 cases were related to finance and banking; and the rest were miscellaneous problems. So far, the follow ups of these incidents showed that very few were related to Y2K. The other 39 Y2K Command Centers in the public sector and 75 provincial Y2K Command Centers also reported no unusual occurrences .

Mr. Somkit reported the success of SET industry-wide test with the brokerage firms, Thailand Stock Depository Center, Custodian banks, Listed companies, and news vendors. Both roll-over testing and simulation testing of normal working day passed.

Reports were made to Deputy Prime Minister Trairong via audio conferences from Bank of Thailand, KrungThai Bank, Chiangmai Y2K Command Center, and Songkhla Y2K Command Center.

• Bank of Thailand also reported its success of its industry-wide test with commercial banks and other financial institutions, which included funds transfer test through BahtNet system.
• KrungThai Bank reported no incidents.
• ChiangMai Y2K Command center reported no problem with power utilities and its international airport. However, congestion in international telecommunication were experienced during the hour of the cross-over.
• Songkhla Y2K Command center reported a minor glitch with a relay system of a district power plant which displayed the wrong date. This problem, however, did not effect electricity distribution in the area.

Dr. Trairong re-emphasized that had we not spent our efforts in solving Y2K problems, the transition into the new millennium would not have been this smooth. National Y2K Center informed that the impact of most Y2K-related cases were at personal or within organizational level, such as problems with PABX for apartments, problems with a LAN server in a company, problems with an accounting system, problems with some electrical appliances, a problem with a lab equipment, etc. All of which did not affect the public at large.

Nevertheless, Dr. Pairash Thajchayapong maintained that National Y2K Center will continue its monitoring service. The next critical period will be on January 4, 2000, which is the first working day. The Center warned that people still have to be cautious with information exchanges between organizations, both domestics and international level.

National Y2K Command Center will remain operational at Telephone Organization of Thailand until January 4, 2000. Mechanisms for people to report problems after such date will be announced at the press conference on January 3, at 16:00 hours.

Reported by

Thailand National Y2K Command Center

18:00, 1 January 2000