Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has joined forces with a Thai state hospital and Huawei Technologies, in launching an unmanned vehicle using 5G communications to deliver contactless medical supplies.

"Dubbed 'Unmanned Vehicle Pilot Project Driving Thai Healthcare to 5G Era,' the self-driving car will be the first unmanned vehicle used for the first time as a testing kit at Siriraj Hospital, to see its efficiency and without needing physical interaction between people, " said Takorn Tantasith, Secretary-General of the Office of the NBTC on Thursday.

The 5G technology is supplied by Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd, with technical and communication capabilities including delivering medical supplies through complicated routes in the compound of Siriraj Hospital.

"It will relieve the workloads of medical personnel and save their costs and time," said Takorn, "it will be a step forward toward developing smart hospitals."

Takorn said that after the test trial at Siriraj Hospital, the NBTC will evaluate the benefits and efficiency of the 5G-enabled unmanned vehicle before adopting this pilot project in other hospitals.