First digital wallet handout should not go to teenagers

The third phase of the 10,000-baht cash handout should be offered to working-age individuals to stimulate the economy instead of adolescents aged 16-20, the Thailand Consumers Council (TCC) told Thansettakij on Tuesday.

TCC president Boonyuen Siritham said she agreed with the government’s cash handouts for the elderly and disabled in the first and second phases as they might lack digital literacy. However, she pointed out that the scheme has done little to stimulate the economy.

She expressed concern over the third phase, saying she doubted that teens would contribute to the economy.

“I would like to ask what the government’s goal is because they are still school age and mostly rely on their parents’ money,” she said, “Besides their potential to purchase general goods, do they have the potential for spending or investing in businesses?”

Boonyuen noted that the third phase of the handout seemed more targeted at drawing votes from teenagers than mitigating guardians’ expense burden.

Instead, she emphasised that people of working age between 20-59 years should be able to access digital cash handouts, saying that they have to pay tax and need cash to improve their quality of life.

She advised the government to set up an indicator to explore the scheme’s potential for stimulating the economy. The government should suspend or delay the scheme if the indicator confirmed that the first and second phases had little impact on the economy, she said.

“The first and second phases are considered unsuccessful, so I would like the government to be aware of this because every baht distributed is the people’s tax,” she said. “Hence, the project’s implementation should be clear and the evaluation results should be disclosed to ensure tangible results.”

People of working age expressed outrage on social media shortly after the government announced that only individuals aged 16–20 would be eligible for the third phase of the 10,000-baht cash handout.

Many social media users argued that it was unfair for working-age taxpayers to be excluded from the scheme, as they contribute to state revenue through their income taxes.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira announced the third phase of the 10,000-baht handout following a meeting of the Council of Economic Ministers at Government House on Monday.

Pichai described the handout as the first phase of the digital wallet scheme, stating that recipients aged 16–20 would receive the funds through the Thang Rath app.

Paetongtarn, however, referred to it as the third phase of the 10,000-baht economic stimulus programme. The first phase provided cash to welfare cardholders and disabled individuals, while the second phase benefited elderly recipients.