Sirikanya criticized the drama over the new strict and rigid criteria for the 'Poor Card' results, saying the screening intended to exclude people ended up also pushing out genuinely poor and truly needy individuals, causing them to lose welfare benefits.
At 14:00 on 17 Jul 2026 at the parliament, Sirikanya Tansakul, party-list MP and deputy leader of the Prachachon Party, commented on the controversy over the welfare card eligibility criteria announced today, which led to many being disqualified. She said the government, through the Ministry of Finance, planned to reduce welfare card recipients, as reflected by this year's budget of only 42 billion baht, down from the usual over 50 billion baht. Thus, the government intended from the start to reduce the number of beneficiaries to around 9 to 10 million people.
Sirikanya continued that this led to stricter and tougher criteria to lower the number of card recipients. However, this approach caused many genuinely poor and truly needy people to be excluded. On the announcement day, reports emerged that those disqualified included people who truly needed help, often due to incorrect data—such as being recorded as owning vehicles they did not actually own, possibly due to identity misuse, or land ownership mistakenly listed as over 10 rai, or multiple motorcycles registered in their name because children had registered them. These errors caused rightful recipients to lose welfare card eligibility.
"This raises a big question: Has the government's effort to exclude as many people as possible ended up excluding those truly in need? Some low-income people have fallen through the cracks. We must see how quickly the appeal process works. Previously, registrants had to appeal through the same channels they registered, flooding banks and other points. The website instructed contacting the relevant agency for data errors, but for example, the Department of Land Transport, responsible for vehicle ownership data, is overwhelmed and unreachable despite multiple contact numbers. This reflects the Ministry of Finance's Office of the Permanent Secretary's lack of preparedness for the appeals mechanism. Coordination with other agencies is needed, but those agencies are also unprepared, causing confusion and chaos. The government should urgently fix this so that those truly in need are not excluded by overly strict filtering," Sirikanya said.
When asked if budget constraints caused the government to cut funds and tighten eligibility with more conditions, Sirikanya said budget issues are part of it. In 2026, the registration was renewed with only 30 billion baht allocated, halving cardholders, but the budget has now risen to 42 billion baht, possibly supporting nearly 10 million cardholders. The government aims to filter out as many as possible using rigid criteria requiring all qualifications to be met. However, economic hardship varies—some with low income may own over 10 rai of land that yields little or no income, which is reflected in their low earnings. Owning over 10 rai doesn't mean they are not in distress. Similarly, small entrepreneurs with debts over 100,000 baht are excluded despite real financial struggles, as their income from investments may not cover repayments.
"This shows the government wants to correct past mistakes of giving welfare cards to too many people, including those not truly poor. But coupled with budget issues, the screening became rigid and strict, causing genuinely needy people to miss out on welfare benefits." Sirikanya said.