The Cabinet has approved a comprehensive 2026 flood relief package, including a one-year debt moratorium by seven state banks, 0% interest loans for home repairs, and tax deduction rights for home and vehicle repairs to assist citizens and businesses.
Mr. Lawaron Saengsanit, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, revealed that the Cabinet meeting approved flood relief, assistance, and rehabilitation measures for 2026 as proposed by the Ministry of Finance. These aim to alleviate hardships faced by residents and entrepreneurs in affected areas since September. The plan integrates financial support through seven state specialized financial institutions alongside tax measures from the Customs Department, Revenue Department, and Excise Department.
Regarding financial measures, seven state specialized financial institutions have introduced assistance for those who lost income but still have debt obligations. This includes moratoriums on principal or interest payments, interest rate reductions, and loan extensions. Notably, all seven state banks are implementing the debt moratorium simultaneously—an unprecedented occurrence. The moratorium period is at least three months, with some banks such as BAAC extending it up to a full year.
For housing rehabilitation, Government Savings Bank, Government Housing Bank (GH Bank), and the Islamic Bank of Thailand have prepared relaxed-condition loans up to 2 million baht per applicant, with a maximum loan term of 40 years and interest rates between 0% and 1.99% per year. Mr. Lawaron emphasized that the introduction of a 0% starting interest rate is unprecedented and clearly shows the government's strong commitment to genuinely assisting those affected. Additionally, Government Savings Bank offers emergency loans up to 50,000 baht with 0% interest for the first three months to provide liquidity to the public.
For entrepreneurs and farmers, BAAC is providing agricultural equipment repair loans up to 500,000 baht per individual with six months interest-free. Meanwhile, Government Savings Bank, the Islamic Bank of Thailand, and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand offer business loans up to 5 million baht with interest rates from 0% to 3.25% per year. EXIM Bank supports working capital loans up to 2 million baht, and the Credit Guarantee Corporation waives guarantee fee payments during this period.
For large-scale rehabilitation, Government Savings Bank has allocated a 30 billion baht soft loan fund for commercial banks to lend to SMEs with interest rates not exceeding 3.5% per year for the first two years and a maximum loan amount of 30 million baht per customer. Mr. Lawaron emphasized that while state banks can manage their existing clients, the government is mindful of flood victims who are customers of commercial banks, so this fund is allocated to support them with loans capped at 30 million baht each.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance stated that on tax measures, the Cabinet approved comprehensive relief benefits starting with the Customs Department exempting import duties on machinery and equipment replacing items damaged by floods for factories and hotels until 31 March 2027. The Revenue Department allows taxpayers to deduct actual expenses on home repairs and cleaning up to 100,000 baht and vehicle repairs up to 30,000 baht for damages occurring between 15 May and 31 December 2026 from their personal income tax. They also extended deadlines for filing and paying all types of taxes due during the flood period until 30 December 2026.
Meanwhile, the Excise Department extended deadlines for filing and paying excise taxes and renewing liquor and tobacco licenses expiring during this period.
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