Government confirms 14.5 million Thais qualify for 5,000 baht state aid

The director of the Fiscal Policy Office and spokesman for the Finance Ministry says 14.5 million Thai citizens now qualify for the government’s 5,000 baht subsidy, having passed the relevant screening criteria.

Thai PBS World reports that Lawan Saengsanit says this number includes 4.4 million people who succeeded at a preliminary round of screening and have already received their first payment. A further 5.3 million people became eligible after providing more information on their employment, in addition to 4.7 million citizens who filed appeals after initially being disqualified.

The deadline for any further appeals is tomorrow, with Mr Lawan adding that anyone who is yet to receive their money can file complaints with the banks involved, which include the Government Savings Bank, Krung Thai Bank, and Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, from Monday until May 28.

At the end of March, online registration for the subsidy crashed when an estimated 14 million people tried to register.

This was followed by an announcement from the PM in April that the government could only afford to pay the subsidy for one month, followed almost immediately by an apology and clarification that the government was doing its best to make payments over a 3 month period.

14.2 million Thais should receive their 5,000 baht this week, with payments to a further 300,000 recipients expected in due course. It’s only taken 6 weeks to sort out.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World