Lawmaker Attacks Government's 155-Billion-Baht Disaster Insurance Plan
A Thai lawmaker criticized the government's 155-billion-baht disaster insurance plan as unjustified and expensive, arguing the cost estimate was inflated and that Thailand's proposed premium rate is the world's highest.
On September 9, 2025, during a parliamentary session reviewing the 3.78-trillion-baht fiscal year 2570 budget bill in its second and third readings, Veerapong Dechkijvikrom, a Thai Loyal Party list MP, debated the Interior Ministry's appropriation of 226.929 billion baht. He called for a 10 percent budget cut and emphasized to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department that citizens want disaster prevention, not just relief payments.
Veerapong challenged the factual basis for the insurance scheme, saying the prime minister had cited 40 billion baht in annual disaster costs, but official documents showed that figure was actually spread over four years—averaging only 9.877 billion baht annually. The proposed 15.5-billion-baht disaster insurance policy, he argued, was based on a single year's data and was therefore unjustified.
Applying global actuarial standards, Veerapong calculated that the government's structure would require a major national disaster roughly every five years. He noted that worldwide disaster insurance typically operates at a 4-8 percent premium-to-capital ratio, making Thailand's 20 percent ratio the most expensive in the world. He proposed instead that the government hold 5 billion baht in a domestic reserve fund and purchase commercial reinsurance only for larger claims, warning that the current approach wastes taxpayer money and may benefit insurance brokers seeking commissions.
