While the concept for the DPZ was initiated by the Government, the planning for the proposed project, like the project itself, involves the efforts of both public and private supporters. Private companies Jasmine International and Arthur D. Little were retained by the Ministry of science, Technology and Energy to develop the DPZ concept and study its feasibility in Thailand. The study concluded that the DPZ is feasible if the Government is willing to take bold initiatives, and if implementation of the project is carefully managed. As presently envisaged, the DPZ would include both a specially selected site reserved for data processing and telecommunications facilities and a telecommunications network to access the facilities. Concentrating facilities at a dedicated site is viewed as advantageous because it would result in higher utilization, lower costs and faster development of a competitive local data processing industry.
Current plans call for the DPZ to be built, owned and operated by the private sector.
Site selection would occur later this year, with construction to begin in mid-1991 and the DPZ to be operational at the end of that year. Recent events may foretell a change in the attractiveness of the Thai labor environment for foreign investors. Prior to the change, some employers kept workers on temporary status indefinitely, resulting in substantial cost savings. Still, the sharp increase has caused concern in some areas that both foreign investment and the country's export-market will be negatively affected. The President of Thailand's Securities Exchange reportedly said that the increase will significantly impact the Thai stock market.