Pheu Thai's THB10,000 handouts will bankrupt Thailand, warns Jurin
Democrat Party leader Jurin Laksanawisit slammed Pheu Thai’s election policy of handing out 10,000-baht digitally to 50 million people, saying it will likely lead to financial disaster.
“I don’t want to criticise it, but a political party’s policies should not lead to people’s death in the future,” Jurin said on Tuesday.
He added that a good policy should also be clear on how it will be financed.
Pheu Thai has announced that if it wins the May 14 election, it will stimulate the economy by remitting 10,000 baht digitally to each of 50 million Thais who are at least 16 years old.
The Election Commission has summoned Pheu Thai to provide details on how it will finance the scheme and where the money will come from.
Jurin also said a good policy should not open a channel for the government to allow “corruption at policy level” either. He was referring to criticism that Pheu Thai would hand out digital coins to benefit the digital assets trading business owned by its PM candidate Srettha Thavisin.
However, on Monday, Prommin Lertsuridej, chair of Pheu Thai Party’s economic affairs committee, denied the handout would be in digital coin form. He explained the 500 billion baht required for the scheme would come from taxes and budget reshuffling.
On the election outcome, Jurin expressed confidence that his party would win more House seats this time than the 54 the Democrat Party won in 2019.
Jurin also declined to confirm whether his party would once again become a coalition partner of Palang Pracharat Party, which is led by General Prawit Wongsuwan.
“Only the people will tell,” Jurin said, adding that the final decision can only be made after the election results are known.
“We must wait until after the election. The election has not been held yet. If we form a coalition before the voting, why should an election be held?” he asked.
