Low-income welfare programme begins amid hiccups
Many registered low-income earners nationwide, except in Bangkok and its vicinity, started using welfare cash cards for discounts at Blue Flag outlets or other shops participating in the government’s scheme for the first time on Sunday.
The scheme is meant to help 11.67 million people registered as earning no more than Bt100,000 a year to cope with living costs. People earning less than Bt30,000 a year will get a Bt300 monthly allowance, while those earning more than Bt30,000 but less than Bt100,000 a year will get Bt200 monthly allowances.
In Buri Ram’s Muang district, many people immediately used the entire credit allotted by their cards to buy commodities at participating shops such as Thaweekit’s Khok Wat branch, saying they did not want to have make multiple trips to the store.
Huai Rat district resident Chid Nikumram brought her own and her elderly mother’s card, which she presented with an authorisation form, to buy items in Muang district, saying Huai Rat did not yet have shops participating in the programme so she had travelled 10 kilometres and spent both cards’ entire monthly allowances.
An unstable Internet connection also interrupted service at a card reader, interrupting the flow of sales at the Khok Wat store branch.