The People's Party will not approve the 2570 Budget Bill and is set to vote against it, citing unnecessary expenditures. They await further scrutiny at the committee level and express regret that the Digital Minister did not attend parliament to respond, despite the large increase in AI budget.
1 July 2026 GMT+7 Mr. Parit Watcharasinthu List MP and Deputy Leader of the People's Party, commented on the consideration of the draft Budget Expenditure Act for fiscal year 2570. He stated that following internal discussions among opposition parties, there is consensus not to accept the 2570 budget bill. Each party will deliberate internally to decide whether to vote against or abstain, while the People's Party firmly plans to vote against it.
Meanwhile, Ms. Sirikanya Tansakul, List MP and Deputy Leader of the People's Party, said the debate revealed chronic fiscal wounds left unaddressed. The government admitted these issues as the opposition described, but examining the budget details shows that chronic problems have led to cuts across all ministries and agencies without clear explanations. Welfare budgets for public assistance have been reduced, yet budgets for equipment, computers, and digital sectors have increased.
She cited an example of a roughly 30% cut to research and development funding through the national fund, signaling a lack of priority for research and development. Although the health budget increased, the rise in state welfare card funding is insufficient to meet future welfare obligations. Provincial budgets were cut by over 20 billion baht, while actual decentralization funds to local governments increased by only about 7 billion baht.
Ms. Sirikanya added that over the past three days, no ministers have explained why priorities were set this way despite widespread concerns. Questions came not only from opposition MPs but also surprised government MPs about significant budget cuts and project cancellations. Ministers have not explained these decisions, raising doubts that the budget prioritization is flawed—important areas see cuts while seemingly less urgent areas receive increased funding. This prevents their approval of the budget.
Regarding expectations for adjustments during the committee stage, Ms. Sirikanya said they expect the government to provide project details. It is the committee's role to investigate why certain projects were cut or increased, and even where cuts occurred, they expect to find further reductions since many issues deserve more attention. For example, newborn welfare was cut by 500 million baht; although birth rates declined, no criteria were adjusted to ensure fairness.
However, this debate was not heated; questions were reasonable and hoped ministers would explain their rationale. Yet, no minister has clearly responded, leading to questions about who actually organizes the budget. If ministers are unaware of their own ministry’s budget details, it is problematic. For instance, the Minister of Digital Economy and Society has yet to respond but is expected to explain the rationale behind the 5 billion baht cloud computing project, especially when most budgets are being cut. ."
