The government plans to downsize its civil service through an early retirement scheme while increasing pay for remaining staff, as the administration accelerates its transition towards digital governance and artificial intelligence-driven public services.
Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt said on Wednesday he had instructed the Office of the Civil Service Commission to prepare an early retirement programme aimed at reducing what he described as an excessive number of civil servants whose roles no longer align with modern government operations.
The reform is part of efforts to modernise the public sector in line with standards promoted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and support Thailand's shift towards a digital government.
Mr Pakorn rejected proposals to raise the mandatory retirement age beyond 60, saying such a move would merely prolong existing problems.
He pointed to countries like Denmark and France, where increases in retirement ages have triggered public protests from workers seeking to enjoy retirement while still in good health.
Mr Pakorn said advances in digital technology and agentic AI are reducing the need for large bureaucracies.
Thailand currently has about 415,000 civil servants employed by the central government. If teachers, doctors and nurses employed at state schools and hospitals are included, the figure is about 1.7 million.
