Thailand's treasury will be overburdened if new govt makes all promises come true: TDRI
The Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) has voiced concern that the huge handouts promised by political parties may have long-term consequences on Thailand’s finances.
In a recent report, the institute said welfare policies should instead focus on specific areas like education and on specific groups to effectively address inequality.
Nonarit Bisonyabut, a research fellow at TDRI, said last week that the new government should consider the following possible problems when launching social welfare policies. They are:
• Allocating a large budget with a long-standing welfare policy may affect the country’s financial standing
• Not establishing exactly who is eligible for how much assistance may be a waste as it will result in overlapping schemes
The TDRI said the government should consider inclusivity when devising social welfare policies, such as support for education or benefits for newborns. Also, it said, policies should be well-targeted, such as providing financial aid only to very low-income groups.
“Welfare benefits offered, so far, have been inefficient. For instance, some deserving individuals are not getting government aid, while those not eligible are getting it. Such problems need to be addressed and welfare assistance should be timely and cater to urgent needs in the current situation,” Nonarit said.
The Move Forward Party, which is working towards forming a coalition, has issued a list of 300 policies to reform Thailand. The policies include a pledge to increase the minimum daily wage to 450 baht, hand out coupons for skills training, coupons for food and create more than 100,000 jobs, among others.
