Scholar Urges Overhaul Of Thai Aid Program, Not Just Cash Flow

Assoc. Prof. Suchart Triampolkul from Bangkok University's Faculty of Business Administration and Management, whose research ranks among the world's top 2% scientists according to Stanford University, says extending the Thai Help Thai Plus 60/40 programme is justified given that citizens still face pressure from high energy and living costs, and the scheme has successfully eased burdens and improved liquidity for small entrepreneurs.

However, as the government prepares to spend more public money, any renewal should be paired with a fundamental review of the programme's design and mechanics based on real-world results from recent months. Policymakers should not simply assume it can continue unchanged based solely on remaining budget and timeframe.

"I am not proposing the government abandon Thai Help Thai Plus. If living-cost conditions require it, they can proceed," Triampolkul said. "But the question is: now that we have implementation data, why extend the programme exactly as it was without assessing how much true economic value each baht of state spending has created, and what could be improved?"

He stressed that high transaction volumes do not automatically equal equal GDP growth. Economic success should not be measured only by user numbers or cash flow, since in economics a transaction value and newly created economic value are different things. The government should additionally analyse how much of its spending generates genuine new consumption and how that money circulates through purchases, production, employment, and supply chains—the true economic multiplier effect.

Programmes with capped budgets and time limits can incentivize citizens to "use up their entitlement" rather than consume based on genuine need. If the system allows entitlements to be converted to cash or create sham transactions unrelated to real commerce, money will leak away from policy goals, preventing some public funds from generating intended economic impact.