The Prime Minister convened the economic team to finalize the "Thai Help Thai Plus" program before its launch on 1 June. Minister Pradorn expects the program to cover over 30 million people and noted that additional measures might come from other ministries as well.
At 11:05 a.m. on 30 Apr 2026 GMT+7 at the Government House, following a meeting of the Police Commission at the Royal Thai Police headquarters, Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul arrived at Government House. He called a meeting of the economic team, including Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Aekniti Nitithanprapas, Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister’s Office Pradorn Prissanantakul (who oversees the Budget Bureau), Bank of Thailand Governor Vithai Ratanakorn, Cabinet Secretary-General Natjaree Anantasillpa, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Lawaron Saengsanit, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council Danucha Pichayanan, Budget Bureau Director Anan Kaewkamnerd, and representatives from the Public Debt Management Office. The meeting aimed to quickly finalize the "Thai Help Thai Plus" project guidelines to present to the Cabinet next week, as the program is scheduled to start on 1 June.
Before the meeting, Minister Pradorn Prissanantakul said there would likely be discussions about the "Thai Help Thai" program, aiming to clarify its direction. He expected the Cabinet to make some form of decision next week, so today’s meeting was a preliminary discussion.
When asked if today's meeting was in place of the Economic Cabinet meeting, Pradorn said he was going to discuss with the Prime Minister whether the Economic Cabinet meeting would be held on 4 May, which is a holiday. When pressed if the Prime Minister wants the program to be launched as soon as possible, Pradorn confirmed that the scheduled start date remains 1 June as previously announced.
Asked whether the government is currently ready only in terms of budget or also coordinating with other economic agencies, Pradorn said they need to wait to see the Ministry of Finance’s policy and approach, as well as input from other ministries regarding relief measures. He mentioned the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives as examples that might have additional ideas. The Ministry of Finance, led by Deputy Prime Minister Aekniti, has already proposed two or three measures.
Regarding the target group size of 20 to 30 million people, Pradorn said there are initially two parts: first, 13.2 million people holding state welfare cards; second, those covered by the "Thai Help Thai" or the original "Half-Half" program. They are reviewing the numbers but expect the total to exceed 30 million people. The state welfare cardholders number 13.2 million, and the previous program covered about 20 million, so combined, the beneficiaries may surpass 30 million people.