Lawmaker Challenges 500-Million-Baht Village Fund Budget
A lawmaker challenged a proposed 500-million-baht budget increase for village solar energy projects, citing unresolved problems from a previous scheme where many villagers never received promised funds.
At a House of Representatives meeting on September 7, 2026, committee member Watanya Bunnark raised concerns about a majority proposal to increase the village fund budget for solar energy projects, questioning whether new money should be added to an existing system still plagued by problems from the SML scheme that have left many villagers without promised funds.
Bunnark outlined three key issues requiring government answers before approving the additional 500 million baht: clarification on the outcome of the original 2024 SML budget allocation to nearly 47,000 village funds, assurance that new money will not duplicate or target the same communities as the existing SML programme, and transparency over accountability and management once projects are installed. "The government should not use the term 'solar cells'—which sounds modern—to obscure budget duplication," Bunnark said, noting that installation is only the beginning of a project's lifecycle and that responsibility for repairs and failures must be clearly defined.
Bunnark further expressed concern that funding a system with transparency problems only compounds the risk, calling on parliament to ensure previous allocations reach villagers fully before approving the new tranche. The existing SML and SML Plus programmes, while designed for renewable energy, have seen limited actual benefit delivery to target communities, with government funds dispersed to thousands of projects but not necessarily reaching villagers' hands.
