Donations sought for welfare plan

The cost of the sweeping subsidies for low-income earners is expected to exceed Bt40 billion annually, Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said at the “FPO Symposium 2017” yesterday.
The ministry is screening 14 million of those who registered for state welfare.
At this time, 11.6 million are potentially eligible but the final figure would be lower as many of them have annual income greater than the Bt100,000 threshold, he said.
The government plans to start giving handouts to the impoverished to cover utility bills, transport and daily necessities on October 1. Each is expected to pocket about Bt2,700 a month.
The initial cost is estimated at Bt40 billion, but that may not be adequate, so the government would welcome tax-deductible contributions from private and public businesses, he said.
The ministry later plans to introduce a negative income tax, giving cash to those living below the poverty line, currently at Bt30,000 a year. 
This benefit may begin early next year, said Kritsda Chinavicharana, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO).
The move is part of the government’s policy to narrow the gap between the rich and poor.
Among those registering for state assistance, a third are senior citizens, suggesting that people are not saving enough for retirement.
A fifth have no income. Four million are farmers and three million are self-employed. 
One million do not have a formal education and 300,000 have a bachelor degree, according to the FPO’s database. 
Critics, however, harbour doubts about the accuracy of the data and cost-effectiveness of the social welfare programme.
Piriya Pholphirul, an economist at NIDA, said the government’s method may not be cost-effective because there is a high cost to find the targeted poor. 
Collecting data of the poor is also prone to error, resulting in wasted resources and discrimination, he said.
Income inequality in Thailand is the worst in Asean, with the richest 10 per cent of the population having 22 times the income of the poorest 10 per cent. They also have 878 times the land owned by the poorest group – holding 61.5 per cent of the country’s land while the lowest 10 per cent possess only 0.1 per cent, according to the FPO.