Chim-Shop-Chai stimulus scheme set for a second roll-out

Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is hinting the government may launch a second phase of the “Chim-Shop-Chai” (Eat-Shop-Spend) scheme. He says he’s waiting for officials to complete an assessment of the first phase and its ability to boost the sluggish economy.

Chim-Shop-Chai was a raging success. Up to one million Thais were able to register each 24 hours to apply for a 1,000 free gift that could be spent in any province except their home province.

The Prime Minister says that initial assessment shows positive results, with consumer spending increasing after the implementation of the program. But he admitted that the 1,000 baht giveaway to registered subscribers was not a large amount of money, but it was seed money that encouraged consumers to spend more.

He disclosed that officials are considering injecting more seed money into the program, hoping that it may generate spending that is 3-5 times the amount of the seed money.

While exports are down due to a myriad of problems (US-China Trade War, sluggish world economy, Brexit fears), the PM insists that it was necessary to do something to boost the domestic economy to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to survive in the wake of the economic slowdown.

Regarding the glitches in the program experienced by many subscribers, he said that officials have been fixing the problems to ensure the program proceeds more smoothly if it is extended.

About one million people subscribed to the program each day in the first phase, but about 200,000 of them failed the screening process, partly due to problems in the electronic scanning system, according to the PM.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World