Govt to spend Bt50 billion in cash handouts for poor, tourism stimulus package

[phka]

2 hours ago, nev said:

Can us Farang register too.

You know the answer to that 

[daiwill60]

Seems to me that one simple way to get rid of the poverty would be to get rid of all the corruption at top levels or redistribute the real wealth in Thailand.  
A second way to get rid of poverty would be to introduce a comprehensive education system that doesn't concentrate so much of its time on cultural values and being subservient sheeple, and an education system that pays a good salary to its teachers, Thai or foreigners.  That may be one reason Vietnam is bouncing ahead of Thailand in IQ levels and English speaking ability. 

[RichardColeman]

Hope he monitors alcohol sales during his giveaway !

[off road pat]

4 hours ago, nev said:

Can us Farang register too.

Doubt it,...in fact they are looking for ways to make us Farangs to pay for all this !?!?

[Lucius verus]

This is what happens when you have clowns running the country.

Theyre clueless.

The money will be spent in a matter of days then back to square one.

Most of it will go in lottery tickets ,booze and smokes not tourism so the gov will get alot of it back anyway.

Prayut can't take that smirk off his face.

[klauskunkel]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

spend some Bt20 billion to stimulate the economy by giving an extra Bt1,000 for each state welfare card holder

in other words, there are 20 million registered Thais on welfare out of a population of 70 million. That's a lot me thinks. But I could be wrong.

[Fred white]

2 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

in other words, there are 20 million registered Thais on welfare out of a population of 70 million. That's a lot me thinks. But I could be wrong.

Wouldn't be surprised 

[Reigntax]

They should tax stupidity. But Prayut and his cronies would be broke before the end of the year.

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The Prayut II government plans to spend Bt50 billion to stimulate the economy by handing out Bt1,000 cash to each of the registered poor and Bt1,500 to members of the public to spend while visiting other provinces, a source said.

So that's the bus fare covered how about some spending money?

This bloke is so out of touch it's unbelievable.

[MartinKal]

Excellent initiative. Fully support. The people's QE. "Helicopter money".

[curlylekan]

7 hours ago, BobbyL said:

Bringing back the idea that was already scrapped I see.  

 

No comments on the 1000b welfare pay, but I just cannot see how having a 1500b reimbursement to visit 2nd tier tourist provinces is going to stimulate the economy. 

What you say is interesting. What was scrapped and who brought the idea forward? I'm very interested to read more about what you say

[curlylekan]

7 hours ago, GalaxyMan said:

The government is desperate for money, constantly inventing and raising taxes. Beginning in September, there is a 5% tax on the money gifts that Thais receive at weddings, birthdays, etc. Seems like another cheap way to try to buy the 'loyalty' of the people.

Can you please show me where this is stated?

 

[geoffbezoz]

Typical useless clap trap.

 

You can give fish to people every day so they don't starve but that way you will always need to feed them. But if you teach people to fish, then they will feed themselves.

 

In other words the money should be spent on training and education not hand-outs that has no future benefits.

 

The people want a future, not a 1000 baht to spend on a nights partying.

[Cadbury]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

tourists must stay at hotels or resorts registered for the project and these venues would be allowed to reimburse Bt1,500 to each tourist staying there.

The rush will now be on for hotels to register. Given that no auditing ever takes place in Thailand a hotel scamfest is on the horizon.

Thousands of non existent overnight travellers will suddenly appear on the hotel register and occupancy rates will go through the roof. Government administration will be flat out issuing the 1500 bht to the hotels ostensibly to be given to the untraceable nomad tourists. Some cooperation from administrators may be necessary.

This has more scam potential than the one that took money from the destitute and disabled which came to light a year or so ago.

[Number 6]

At face value it's not a horrible idea. The only problem is that it's not enough and money is never properly channeled to actually stimulate the economy. It's better than giving it to bankers!

 

Alas, it just smacks of vote buying or quelling frustration in the population. Maybe looking to Hong Kong...???

[IraqRon]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Hope he monitors alcohol sales during his giveaway !

i was just thinking of this,  the store owners in my amphore that speak english tell me that their biggest alcohol sales are on the day the hand out arrives.

[Srikcir]

8 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Why don’t the government just raise minimum wage instead of temporary fixes that will just kick the problem down the road. 

Using small and unpredictable handouts keeps a pigeon's attention and loyalty. And there's no fine.

https://www.thaitravelblogs.com/2018/10/up-to-25000-baht-fine-for-feeding-pigeons-in-bangkok/

A permanent fix is predictable without political servitude.

[IraqRon]

25 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

The rush will now be on for hotels to register. Given that no auditing ever takes place in Thailand a hotel scamfest is on the horizon.

Thousands of non existent overnight travellers will suddenly appear on the hotel register and occupancy rates will go through the roof. Government administration will be flat out issuing the 1500 bht to the hotels ostensibly to be given to the untraceable nomad tourists. Some cooperation from administrators may be necessary.

This has more scam potential than the one that took money from the destitute and disabled which came to light a year or so ago.

exactly my thoughts but you said it so well no other thoughts needed

[Blue bruce]

Where did all these generals learn how to run a country????

[timendres]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The source said tourists must stay at hotels or resorts registered for the project

Hmm... Wondering who will be registered for the project... Any guesses?

[HeyHeyHey]

8 hours ago, nev said:

Can us Farang register too.

Chai, processing fee for farangs is only 3000 THB

 

khap

[wwest5829]

9 hours ago, GalaxyMan said:

Because the rich 1% who own 80% of Thailand won't stand for the government cutting into their profits.

Oops, thought you were referring to elsewhere. True here, certainly true in US.

[somo]

Essentially this is helicopter money and something discussed in Western economies but never acted on because of the politics of the rich. For those doing down the Thai economy and calling this desperation just look at the strength of the Thai Baht. The world thinks well of Thailand and is investing here. For the last ten years the naysayers have been forecasting an economic crash which has yet to appear. Of course they will be eventually right but if they had the courage to put their money where their mouth is they'd have gone bust ages ago.

[wisperone]

In reality, it ain't gonna happen anyway.

[newnative]

Don't spend it all in one place.

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Why don’t the government just raise minimum wage instead of temporary fixes that will just kick the problem down the road. 

They tripled it a few years ago and my, oh my, didn't the posters on here whinge about increased prices. The talk is to increase again to 450b per day. Don't be surprised when prices increase again to match the increased input costs for business.

[Pique Dard]

to create jobs & to eradicate or at least to counter effectively corruption would be a better measure

[thirdleg]

17 hours ago, jonclark said:

This type of short term, unsustainable reaction does not inspire confidence in the economy. What are the public not being told. 

 

50 Billion is a big amount of cash, we have hospitals and schools (especially the rural ones) one the verge of collapse, both economically and structurally, and poor old Toon is having to run the length and breadth of the country to raise funds for them, and the government is giving out cash to a population that by and large is up to its neck in debt, and being encouraged to spend more on having a vacation. Utter lunacy!

 

How about making 25 Billion available for people to up skill and retrain through adult education centers and collages?  It is evident that many people especially those who have been out of education for a number of years (mainly farmers and the poor) need new skills and knowledge in order to leverage the opportunities that the 21st century can offer. 

 

A 50 Billion injection of money into the health and education system would yield far better longer term results. In fact betting 50 Billion on a couple of hands of Hi-Low would make more economic sense than this. 

And yet they still keep 200 billion US dollars in FX for some reason!!

Wonder what that is for?!

[simtemple]

22 hours ago, SmartyMarty said:

more evidence these people know nothing about running an economy.

It is if your objective is to hold onto power. Champagne, Champagne for everyone. 

[Eric Loh]

11 hours ago, emptypockets said:

They tripled it a few years ago and my, oh my, didn't the posters on here whinge about increased prices. The talk is to increase again to 450b per day. Don't be surprised when prices increase again to match the increased input costs for business.

Last few years wage was increased from 300B to 325B, hardly tripled. Inflation still subdued and the fear more on stagnation. The government should look at structural reform like wage increase rather than temporary fixes like handouts etc that will only good for a short period. That's my point.