Chaiyachana criticizes the government for promoting volunteer nurses as a network to build political vote bases, arguing that funds should instead be used to improve welfare for Village Health Volunteers (VHVs). He also warns that the government’s budget cuts to provinces for the "Thai Chuey Thai Plus" program disadvantage local administrations.
On 5 August 2026 at the Parliament, Chaiyachana Dechadecho, party-list MP and deputy leader of the Democrat Party, commented on the recent volunteer nurse recruitment, which closed on 31 July. He noted that the selection process involved only interviews, suggesting it clearly aims to build networks for political vote-getters. He believes the government should use the budget allocated for volunteer nurses to improve welfare for Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) or to hire more than 7,000 unappointed Ministry of Public Health staff, rather than hiring volunteer nurses. He urged the Prime Minister to reconsider or open the selection to the public through written exams or medical knowledge assessments, rather than just training and interviews focused on patient care, which duplicates the role of VHVs. VHVs serve as frontline health workers caring for bedridden and ECD patients but receive only 600-2,000 baht compensation, whereas the newer volunteer nurses receive a monthly salary of 15,000 baht. He considers this unfair and questions why the government does not prioritize appointing existing Ministry of Public Health staff. He suggested this policy may be aimed at building a political support base. When asked if he views volunteer nurses as political vote-getters, he replied he prefers to call it network building rather than vote-buying.
Regarding the claim by Rakchanok Srinok, party-list MP of the People’s Party, that most budget allocations were directed to areas controlled by the Bhumjaithai Party, Chaiyachana said he would not go into such detail. However, he noted that this year’s budget cuts to provinces exceed 20 billion baht, and he hopes the funds cut from provinces will be used to support local administrations. Ultimately, the provincial budget cuts have been redirected to the central government, mainly to the Thai Chuey Thai Plus project. He emphasized that national administration requires decentralization, and budget management should balance between welfare for citizens and the development of infrastructure systems.