Worawong Ramangkul harshly criticizes the "40 Baht Curry Rice" policy as mere superficial publicity that risks consumers receiving low-grade food, condemning the Commerce Ministry's failure.
On 13 July 2026, Worawong Ramangkul, former Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Commerce, fiercely criticized the government’s "40 Baht Curry Rice" policy. He described it as a large budget spent more on publicity measures than on solving structural economic problems, likening it to “carrying water in a sieve” and a superficial patch that cannot sustainably drive economic growth.
“In the end, people may get 40 baht curry rice from only a few menu items and only at participating outlets, while the quantity or quality of food might decline. Meanwhile, the businesses receive direct government subsidies, so we must ask: who truly benefits?” Worawong said.
He added that the government plans to subsidize raw material costs between 3,000 and 10,000 baht per store, targeting 100,000 stores over three months. He questioned whether stores will maintain prices after subsidies end. The policy could negatively impact the economy: stores might offer only one or two special menu items to get subsidies but reduce portions or use low-quality ingredients to control costs. This creates unfair competition between participating and non-participating stores, leading businesses to rely on subsidies rather than improving efficiency, which could burden the government budget long-term.
Worawong pointed out that rising food costs stem from the entire production chain: raw materials, electricity, cooking gas, fuel, transportation, and labor. Citing Commerce Ministry data showing Thailand faces a “high cost of living” due to sustained high energy prices, he urged the government to adopt former Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan’s idea to temporarily reduce excise tax on oil to broadly lower economic costs, as preventing price rises is easier than lowering prices afterward.
He also expressed concern that the government focuses on short-term fixes while neglecting the structural crisis in agriculture, where farmers’ incomes and purchasing power are critically low for rice, coconut, mango, longan, mangosteen, durian, and shrimp. Policies like renaming “central coconut processing” to “community coconut processing” have shown no tangible results. Premium rice and shrimp projects are merely attractive titles aiming for long-term gains but fail to address immediate crises. Additionally, delays in Thailand-EU FTA negotiations—originally due by December 2025—have put Thailand at a disadvantage, causing lost investment opportunities.
Towards the end, Worawong strongly criticized the Commerce Minister’s performance, saying that during nine months as minister and over 100 days as deputy prime minister, there have been no concrete new policies—only routine bureaucratic tasks. He urged to "stop lying to the people and stop lying to the prime minister" with information that does not reflect reality.
“The minister does not need to show kindness to others, because the whole country shows kindness to him every day. What society wants is real, tangible results: reducing production costs and solving structural problems based on economic principles—not organizing cosmetic events to create appearances while sweeping real issues under the rug,” Worawong concluded.