The “Thai Help Thai Plus” program is extended for another two months to explore opportunities to stimulate the economy. Experts point out that daily wage earners face an income crisis and urge the government to focus on income-stimulating projects that build long-term careers, as the Thai economic structure is heavily impacted by a flood of Chinese products.
Last week, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul instructed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anek Niti Thantapraphas to use the remaining budget from underutilized registrations in the “Thai Help Thai Plus” program, amounting to approximately 40-50 billion baht, to extend the program through the last quarter of the year, October to December 2026. The move aims to alleviate living costs for the public, especially rising fuel prices, with the government affirming its ongoing commitment to support the people.
The “Thai Help Thai Plus” program has faced calls for continuation. Thairath Online’s special team consulted Associate Professor Dr. Atth Pisarnwanich, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Rangsit University, who analyzed the two-month extension. He said it is appropriate to help people now since no other assistance is available and fuel prices have risen, easing hardships temporarily. But this relief lasts only the two months, like having medicine for two months before facing difficulties again. It lacks a clear future plan for how people will cope with rising costs afterward.
Extending the “Thai Help Thai Plus” program in this way is like "fighting with bare fists" and essentially borrowing money to give away without establishing a long-term support system. After the third month, people will have to fend for themselves and face their fate alone.
Regarding subsidy proportions such as 60:40 or 50:50, experts believe people will accept any amount since it is "free money." However, from a management perspective, this approach merely "buys time managing the grassroots economy" temporarily.
The two-month extension of the Thai Help Thai Plus should be the "final faucet" of this kind of cash handout program, and the government should stop implementing such programs.
"This reflects a government economic management with nothing left. You distribute budget money and borrow to give away, but as long as you don’t solve structural economic problems, you cannot fix the system. The government will have to keep borrowing and handing out money, leaving Thai people in debt as before," he said.
Instead of giving out money, the government should urgently invest the budget in projects that create jobs, build careers, and generate sustainable income for Thai households.
Looking deeper into the economy where export growth is claimed to be strong, Associate Professor Dr. Atth said export figures are merely an "economic illusion" that does not reflect the reality of most people in the country.
Those benefiting from exports are large capitalists, multinational corporations, and large industries such as electronics, machinery, and communication equipment.
Those left behind are producers of processed agricultural products, community goods, or local SMEs, which do not benefit from this growth.
A worrying problem is the growing trade deficit. The government should address this by producing substitute products to reduce imports, retain money in the system, and support Thai entrepreneurs instead of letting foreign products, especially Chinese goods, flood the market, making it difficult for SMEs and rural residents to sell their products.
"Dream policies like electric cars or data centers do not benefit local people, who remain poor. SMEs in the provinces are dying because foreign products flood the market," he warned.
