The Government’s economic stimulus package, which includes a monthly living allowance of 2,000 baht a person for low-income earners, seeks to revive the Thai economy as soon as possible.

The living allowance aims to ease the plight of people and state personnel affected by the economic crisis and to increase their purchasing power. Low-income earners benefiting from the monthly allowance include insured workers, officials, village heads, community leaders, or kamnan, and doctors in subdistricts.

Referring to criticism of this package, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that he had monitored measures to stimulate the economy worldwide and found that the effort to increase the people’s purchasing power was one of the effective ways to salvage businesses without distorting marketing mechanisms. He believed that this measure would bring about a quick revival of the economy and help sustain economic growth.

The Cabinet, during its meeting on 13 January 2009, approved a budget of 115 billion baht for supplementary spending in the 2009 fiscal year to boost the economy. Out of this amount, almost 96 billion baht will be spent on the Government’s urgent policies and economic stimulus package scheme. Another 19 billion baht will be used to cover treasury account withdrawals.

The 96-billion-baht fund will be allocated to implement three plans, comprising 16 projects. The first plan, involving 37.46 billion baht, seeks to restore confidence in the Thai economy. It consists of nine projects to reduce the costs of living for state personnel and the general public, develop water sources for farmers, construct more roads for villages, promote trade and tourism, support water management, promote small and medium-sized building industries, and improve Thailand’s image.

The second plan, involving 56 billion baht, seeks to develop the people’s quality of life. It comprises seven projects concerning free education for 15 years, Sufficiency Economy promotion, subsidies for older persons, training for the unemployed, health volunteer recruitment, the construction of housing units for junior police, and the improvement of health stations. The third plan involves 2.39 billion baht to be reserved as emergency funds for use in time of necessity.

At the same meeting, the Cabinet assigned Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu to consider spending the supplementary budget to stabilize prices of rubber, oil palm, and sugar cane, in addition to other types of farm produce.

Prime Minister Abhisit chaired a meeting of the Committee for the Decentralization of Power to Local Administrative Organizations on January 15, when a fund of 104 billion baht was approved. The fund will be allocated to local administrative organizations to help stimulate the local economy, in line with the Government’s economic stimulus package.