Phase 3 of travel subsidy campaign ‘will not be ready’ in time for Songkran
The latest phase of the government’s travel subsidy campaign “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) will not be ready in time for the Songkran festival, which features a 6-day-long holiday, from April 10 to 15, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn said on Wednesday.
Under the campaign, eligible registrants can receive a 40 per cent discount on hotel rooms and restaurants. They will also receive an e-voucher when checking into a hotel, as well as a 40 per cent flight refund when they check out.
“The principles of phase 3 of the campaign were rejected by a Cabinet meeting on March 9, with TAT and Krung Thai Bank being asked to revise the details of the criteria to prevent fraud,” he said.
So far, more than 800 people have been prosecuted for defrauding the government under the scheme, which aims to stimulate the pandemic-hit economy.
“Even if the Cabinet were to approve the revised criteria at its next meeting on March 23, the approval of 2 million registrants under phase 3 will not be completed in time for the Songkran festival,” Yuthasak said.
“One of the anti-fraud measures is to force the applicants to book a room at least 2 weeks in advance, instead of three days, so officials will have enough time to detect any irregularity and stop the disbursement of money in time if possible fraud is detected,” he said.
“Krung Thai Bank is also considering using facial recognition technology to prevent the case of one person using another’s rights, but the system will need some time to be set up,” Yuthasak added.