The Finance Ministry is set to begin offering stimulus money to 14.5 million people in vulnerable groups starting from Sept 25, which is expected to contribute to achieving 3% GDP growth this year, says finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit.
Mr Lavaron said the recipients include 12.4 million people with state welfare cards and 2.1 million disabled individuals, with each receiving 10,000 baht.
Distribution starts on Sept 25 through state welfare cards and disability cards via PromptPay, linked to their national ID numbers.
Distribution is to be staggered, with payments to disabled individuals from Sept 25.
For state welfare cardholders, distribution is as follows: on Sept 25 for those with card numbers ending in 0; Sept 26 for those with card numbers ending in 1, 2 and 3; on Sept 27 for those with card numbers ending in 4, 5, 6 and 7; and on Sept 30 for those with card numbers ending in 8 and 9.
The staggered approach is intended to avoid disrupting salary payments within the banking system, with a daily allocation of 4-5 million people considered appropriate.
More than 11 million state welfare cardholders have linked PromptPay to their ID numbers, leaving over 1 million in this cohort still to link to the payment system.
Payments to disabled individuals are through the current system where they receive monthly state assistance.
He urged state welfare cardholders to link their national ID numbers to PromptPay by the end of the year to receive the 10,000-baht handout.
Failure to do so would render them ineligible for the payment this year.
Regarding the second phase of the digital wallet scheme, Mr Lavaron said it depends on the readiness of the payment platform, which is managed by the Digital Government Development Agency.
He said the digital handout represents important infrastructure for Thailand and a future tool for the government to inject money to create a digital economy.
Once the system is completed, there will likely be a second phase, with a budget of 187 billion baht allocated for fiscal 2025, said Mr Lavaron.
He said once the government has distributed money to vulnerable groups, the pressure to distribute funds may decrease, allowing more time for the government to develop the payment system, addressing concerns from financial institutions that the rushed implementation of the platform may forgo adequate testing, which is needed to ensure confidence.
Mr Lavaron said he believes the first phase of payments, along with funds from Vayupak Fund 1 units, will help stimulate the economy in the final quarter this year, potentially achieving the government's 3% growth target.
The National Economic and Social Development Council projects GDP growth of around 2.5% this year.