Government doubles cash stimulus period for informal workers

The Thai government is doubling the period of monthly cash handouts for “informal workers,” from 3 months to 6. Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana made the announcement after yesterday’s weekly Cabinet meeting.

The government initially only planned to provide cash to 3 million people for 3 months. The new stimulus marks a huge investment by the Thai government to keep the economy chugging along whilst the impacts of shutdowns keep people indoors.

The government intends to provide 5,000 baht in cash per month to 9 million Thai people, starting today until September. The stimulus aims to offset the effects of business closures and high unemployment due to the national state of emergency declared to fight the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

More than 24 million people have so far registered for the handout via the government’s website and the Finance Ministry is in the process of screening who could be eligible. The relief measure covers people who do freelance jobs, are self-employed or are workers in the “informal sector,” such as motorbike taxi drivers (win drivers).

SOURCE: The Nation