“Pradorn” acknowledged that the mid-year 2026 budget has been exhausted, but there is a mid-year 2027 budget of 99 billion baht, which is sufficient to aid flood victims. Over 90% of those in provincial areas have received assistance. The estimated usage is about 10 billion baht. It is uncertain whether the budget proposal can be submitted to the Cabinet by tomorrow.
At 08:50 on 19 Oct 2026 GMT+7 at the Government House, Pradorn Prissanantakul, Minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office, addressed opposition claims that the flood relief budget had been depleted. He said that the initial flood relief budget of about 4.7 billion baht, allocated at the end of September, has now been fully used. For those affected by flooding who have not yet received aid, the government will use the mid-year 2027 budget, which totals approximately 99 billion baht. This budget will be used throughout the year to address various arising issues. There was no separate budget set aside specifically for this. He assured that the government is ready to fairly assist all affected citizens who have not yet received relief. This led to the urgent project initiated at the end of 2025 to provide household disaster insurance to every home, as the Prime Minister noted that annual flood relief payments amount to tens of billions of baht. He emphasized that this week, the director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation is expected to finalize the remaining damage figures to submit to the Cabinet. The Prime Minister and Cabinet have no issues with providing relief to all affected individuals.
When asked if the proposal could be presented to the Cabinet meeting on 20 Oct 2026 GMT+7, Pradorn said that depends on the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. When further asked about the expected additional budget amount, he explained that local authorities or provinces conduct surveys and submit their data to the department, which then consolidates the figures before presenting them to the Cabinet. He added that in most provincial areas, flood relief has likely been completed satisfactorily. In provinces such as Ang Thong, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, and Singburi, he found that more than 90% of affected people have already received aid.
Asked whether the figure would reach 10 billion baht, Pradorn said that based on reports of over a million affected households, the amount would likely be around 10 billion baht as well. When asked about the adequacy of the budget for the newly launched disaster insurance program, he stated that it was a correct decision by the Prime Minister and government to implement insurance coverage for 30 million households nationwide.
When asked about reports that the Prime Minister might redirect the mid-year budget toward urgent infrastructure projects such as water drainage, Pradorn explained that the use of the mid-year budget follows criteria of necessity, urgency, and emergency, and must be for projects not included in the regular budget. For amounts under 100 million baht, the Prime Minister's approval allows use of the mid-year budget. However, all use depends on whether the projects meet the criteria of necessity and urgency.