The National Statistical Office, commissioned by the government, is conducting a new survey of 13.4 million state welfare cardholders for the first time in nine years, aiming to develop itself into a global-level data company like Statista.
Mr. Ekpong Hrimcharoen, Director of the National Statistical Office, revealed that the government has assigned the National Statistical Office and the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) to jointly verify, organize, and clean the data of all 13.4 million state welfare cardholders to ensure the data is complete, accurate, ready for use, and to provide more precise assistance to low-income groups.
“Back in 2017, the National Statistical Office was allocated a budget of 700 million baht to conduct field screening of low-income individuals needing assistance under the government's policy at that time. It was concluded that 13.4 million people qualified to receive the state welfare card for support.”
After nine years, Mr. Ekpong said the government has proposed a new review and cleanup of state welfare cardholder data because it is believed there are deceased individuals, duplicates, or people no longer eligible in the system. The National Statistical Office already conducts annual population surveys. Initially, the vulnerable group data confirmed by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) indicates about 1.5 million people will not need to be resurveyed in the field.
Besides reviewing and organizing the new state welfare cardholder data, the National Statistical Office is preparing to reorganize existing data into digital systems, aiming to link data usage across government, private sector, and academia to increase practical benefits. The goal is to become a statistical data agency comparable to Statista, a global statistical database provider.
Mr. Ekpong added that advancing the country through information by integrating data among agencies and collecting it according to international standards is part of Thailand's preparation to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) by 2028. This will elevate Thailand’s data to global standards and support AI processing. With quality foundational data, AI processing will be accurate and reliable, free from misinformation or factual errors.
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