Most Thais waiting for 10,000-baht digital handout, opinion poll finds
Nearly 70% of Thais said they are ready to receive the 10,000-baht digital wallet handout that is being launched as an economic stimulus measure, a recent poll shows.
Under the scheme, all Thais aged 16 and above with a monthly income of less than 70,000 baht and bank deposits lower than 500,000 baht will receive 10,000 baht via a digital wallet to spend at local shops.
The scheme is expected to cost around 500 billion baht, but will boost the economy by 1.2-1.6%, the ruling Pheu Thai Party claimed while campaigning for votes.
On Monday, North Bangkok University published the results of its opinion poll, which showed that 69.9% of the respondents wanted the handout. The survey was conducted on 1,400 Thais during April 12-14.
Of them, 38% said their need for the handout was “high”, while 31.9% said they had a “moderate” need for it.
Meanwhile, 18.4% said they “probably do not need” the handout, and 11.7% said they “absolutely do not need it”.
When asked if they understood the campaign’s mechanism and objectives, 17% said they fully understood, while 48% said they had moderate understanding. However, 28% said they barely understood the scheme, while 7.6% said they had no idea how it works.
When asked if it was a suitable measure to boost the economy, 18.1% said it was “highly suitable”, 40.9% said it was “moderately suitable”, though 14.7% said it is not what the Thai economy currently needs.
As for the benefits of the digital wallet scheme, 22.4% said they believe it would stimulate the economy, 21.4% said the money would ease the burden on Thai households, and 17.7% said it would benefit small and medium business operators.
When asked what they planned to spend the digital money on, 50.4% said they would use it for daily expenses, while others said buying general goods (25.7%), food and beverage (22.4%), and others (1.4%).
