The Secretary of the Social Security Office clarified the discrepancy in the Social Security board election budget figures, explaining that the 30 million baht figure reported to the court was used to compare the cost of setting up polling units for pre-registered voters, and is not the total project budget.
On 30 July 2026, Ms. Kanchana Phulkaew, Secretary of the Social Security Office, addressed criticism regarding differing budget figures for managing the election of employer and insured representatives to the Social Security board. She explained that the 30 million baht budget mentioned in court referred only to the estimated initial cost of setting up polling units based on the number of pre-registered voters as of 15 July 2026. This figure did not include other expenses or account for additional registrations in the last five days.
The 275 million baht budget represents the total funding for the entire election project. It covers management costs such as the election command center, personnel compensation, meetings, training, materials, publicity, polling station arrangements, and ballot box transportation. This estimate is based on an assumption of a 50% voter turnout among all eligible voters.
The Secretary emphasized that the differing figures arise from calculations based on different assumptions. The amount reported to the court was intended solely to compare costs for setting up polling units under the scenario of pre-registered voters versus accommodating all more than 12 million insured individuals, and does not represent the full project budget.
The Social Security Office will prepare detailed budgets aligned with the actual number of polling units established and will disburse funds according to the approved plans to ensure efficient use of the budget and maximum benefit for insured persons and employers participating in the election.