Julapun upbeat Phase 3 of 10,000-baht handout done in 2nd quarter
Government to give 14 million recipients 10,000 baht each via digital platform in third phase
Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat expressed confidence on Monday that the government would implement the third and last phase of the 10,000-baht handout programme in the second quarter of 2025.
Julapun said the government has prepared 150 billion baht from the central fund for economic stimulus to give 14 million recipients 10,000 baht each.
He said he could not give the specific timeframe because the last phase would be done via a digital payment platform being developed by the Digital Government Development Agency (Public Organisation) under the Digital Economy and Society Ministry.
Meanwhile, DES Minister Prasert Chanthararuangthong said the DGA would complete the payment platform by the end of March so it would be ready for the third phase.
Julapun said the DGA has informed the Finance Ministry about its platform development timeline. However, he said the DGA has yet to test the platform, so the specific dates for the third phase are not yet known.
Julapun reaffirmed that the second phase, in which the government would distribute 10,000 baht in cash to 4 million elderly Thais, would be complete before March 29.
In the first phase, the government distributed 10,000 baht in cash to 14.5 million welfare-card holders and the disabled at the end of September.
Julapun said the government committee in charge of economic stimulus has yet to decide the timeframe for registering recipients for the third phase for those who failed to register in September because they did not own smartphones.
