Cabinet on Tuesday (October 15) approved a Bt24.278-billion budget for the first phase of income-guarantee subsidy for rubber farmers.

The Cabinet today (October 15) approved allocation of funds by Specialised Financial Institutions Development Fund, not exceeding Bt6 billion in total, to the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank) for its recapitalisation plan, according to deputy government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisoranakul.

As of October 9, as many as 10 million people had registered for the government’s Bt10-trillion “Eat, Shop, Spend” campaign since it was launched on September 23. Under the project, registrants are given a Bt1,000 coupon to spend. Though the project is seen as a populist policy, there are many sectors that will benefit from the campaign, with IT experts seeing this as a first step towards turning Thailand into a cashless society.

The Council of Digital Economy and Society, in a joint effort with the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Board of Trade of Thailand, will set up a working panel to help private companies adopt digital technology, said FTI chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree after meeting the council's chairman Suphachai Chearavanont today (October 15).

A recent study showed that most businesses in Thailand are in the hands of a few companies, which is causing a huge inequality of income and wealth, and the only way out is to promote market competition and reduce monopoly.