Opposition Slams Tough Welfare Card Criteria Excluding Truly Poor
Opposition MP Sirikanya Tansakul criticized the government's stricter welfare card criteria for excluding genuinely poor people due to data errors and budget constraints, as banks face overwhelmed appeals with poor coordination across agenc
On July 17, Sirikanya Tansakul, Pheu Thai list MP and deputy party leader, criticized the government's welfare card approval announcement, saying many legitimately poor people have been disqualified. She noted the Finance Ministry deliberately planned this year's reregistration to reduce beneficiaries, evident from the budget cut to 42 billion baht compared to the usual 50 billion baht allocation. This means the government intended to reduce eligible recipients to 9-10 million people by tightening criteria significantly. However, this approach risks excluding genuinely poor and suffering citizens.
On announcement day, Sirikanya reported cases where truly poor people failed qualification due to data errors—such as vehicles they don't own but registered under their names, or land recorded as exceeding the 10-rai limit because children's names were added. "The big question is whether the government's effort to filter people has ended up filtering out the truly poor instead," she said. She noted that banks are now overwhelmed with appeals, yet the Finance Ministry provides outdated contact information and other agencies like the Department of Land Transport are unreachable, reflecting poor coordination.
Sirikanya stated the Finance Ministry's Office of the Permanent Secretary appears unprepared with appeals mechanisms and hasn't coordinated with other agencies to handle today's appeals. "This has created total confusion. The government must urgently fix this to truly help the poor, rather than excluding them because the screening net is too fine and strict," she said. When asked if budget constraints drove the tighter criteria, she confirmed budget limitations played a role, noting fiscal year 2569 began with only 30 billion baht—cutting existing cardholders in half. Though 2570 increased to 42 billion baht, Sirikanya observed the government uses rigid criteria requiring applicants to meet all qualifications, despite hardship varying in severity and degree. A low-income person with land exceeding 10 rai may have unproductive property already reflected in low income, yet still loses eligibility.
