36.4 million Thais register for 10,000-baht digital wallet scheme

A total of 36.4 million Thais had put their names down for the 10,000-baht digital wallet scheme via the Thang Rat app within the Sunday midnight deadline.

Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said on Monday that government agencies will now verify the eligibility of applicants, excluding those who already hold the state welfare card.

State welfare cardholders, who fall under the vulnerable persons group, will be the first to receive 10,000 baht in cash by the end of this month.

Meanwhile, Julapun said, the government will announce the names of the rest of the eligible recipients once the verification process has been completed.

Separately, a source at the Finance Ministry said it is believed that some 10 million state welfare cardholders and disabled people were among the 36.4 million people who registered.

The source added that these 10 million applicants are among the 14.5 million vulnerable and disabled people who will be getting 10,000 baht transferred to their bank accounts on September 25, 26, 27 and 30.

The names of the remaining applicants will be checked with the Provincial Administration Department, which will verify their age to see if they are at least 16 years old. The department will also check with the Revenue Department to see if they earned more than 840,000 over the past 12 months.

The Deposit Protection Agency (DPA) will then check to see if the applicants have savings of more than 500,000 baht.

To be eligible, recipients are required to be at least 16 years of age, have not earned more than 840,000 baht in the past year and must have less than 500,000 in savings.

The Finance Ministry has not set a date for the announcement of eligible recipients or the registration of recipients who do not own smartphones.

It said it wants to finish paying the 14.5 million people in vulnerable groups first to avoid confusion.