By Kenneth Niemeyer
Thailand is the latest country to experiment with a cash handout program, hoping it will help its economy recover from a pandemic-induced slump.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the program — called “Digital Wallet” — will offer payments of 10,000 baht, or about $275, to anyone making less than 840,000 baht, or $23,000, a year.
In Thailand, that’s about two-thirds of the population. Thavisin said about 50 million people will likely qualify. The cash handout was a central promise in the prime minister’s campaign before he took office last year.
After the success of pandemic-era cash handouts, numerous countries have flirted with extending the programs, or even making them permanent. Many of them are forms of a basic income, programs that typically offer cash payments with no strings attached to a particular group of people. Some candidates running for top office have even promised a universal basic income, which gives regular cash payments to all citizens with no strings attached.
In South Africa, the country’s largest political party pledged to create and implement a universal basic income program within the next two years. Kenya also offers a basic income program that gives unconditional payments to 20,000 people.
Andrew Yang became one of the most famous advocates for a universal basic income in the United States when he ran for president in 2020 on a plan to give all citizens $1,000 a month.
Since then, numerous American cities — like Houston and Denver — have started basic income programs for low-income residents, inspired in part by the success of pandemic aid. The Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Houston program after conservative politicians in the state challenged its constitutionality.
The Thai prime minister’s plan differs from these kinds of basic income schemes because it restricts how recipients can spend the cash.
In the “Digital Wallet” program, recipients can only spend the money in shops registered through the program. Spending on things like alcohol, cigarettes, and online purchases is prohibited and participants only have six months to spend the cash after they receive it, Time reported.
Thavisin said this infusion of cash would create an “economic tornado” and called it a “life-changing policy for the people” when he announced it in April. Thailand has struggled to regain its footing after the COVID-19 pandemic leveled its economy.
The program will start taking applicants on August 1 and payments will begin in October, Thavisin said on X.
