People’s Party urges employees to join hearings on new CARE pension formula
People’s Party urges Social Security members to join online hearings on new CARE pension formula, alleging an IO campaign is distorting results.
The opposition People’s Party (PP) on Wednesday urged members of the Social Security Fund (SSF) to take part in the ongoing online public hearings on the proposed new old-age pension formula.
MP alleges coordinated ‘IO’ campaign
PP MP Rukchanok Srinok said a group that stands to lose benefits under the new formula was suspected of conducting an information operation (IO) to distort the outcome of the hearings.
She said members of the Social Security Fund should therefore participate in greater numbers to ensure that the results accurately reflect public opinion.
According to Rukchanok, the alleged IO activity flooded the hearing website with 800–1,000 responses between 1 am and 5 am on Sunday and Monday, shifting the results from support for the proposed formula to opposition.
Hearings open until October 17
The hearings are being conducted via the Office of the Council of State’s website and official Line account. They opened on October 1 and will close on Friday, October 17.
CARE formula explained
The proposed system is known as the CARE formula, an acronym for Career-Average Revalued Earnings. It is designed to promote greater fairness, equality and sustainability in Thailand’s Social Security Fund.
- Enhanced fairness: The CARE formula aims to reflect a worker’s total lifetime contributions rather than focusing on recent earnings.
- Addressing the ‘last 60 months’ loophole: The current system allows some contributors—especially those under Section 39 or with fluctuating incomes—to inflate contributions during their final five working years to secure higher pensions, even if their overall contributions were low.
- Inflation adjustment: By revaluing past salaries to account for inflation, the CARE formula recognises that a salary of 10,000 baht in the 1990s had far greater purchasing power than today, ensuring early contributions are fairly weighted.
Rukchanok said the CARE formula would ensure fairness for insured employees, but those who had taken advantage of the existing system were attempting to obstruct reform through online manipulation.
