Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha //forum.thaivisa.com/ Bangkok (NNT/VNA) - The Thai Prime Minister has voiced hissatisfaction with the success of the government’s “Half-Price” co-pay campaignthat has helped the general public cut down on living expenses whilestimulating local economies.
The government is aiming to have more than 1 million shops involved, while urgingparticipating shops and members of the public to adhere to the campaign’s termsand conditions.
In the campaign, the public can registered for a 150 baht per day, 3,000 bahtthroughout the campaign period credit, that can be used to subsidize up to halfthe price of their purchases at participating stores via the government’swallet app.
Right now there are some 7.1 million persons registered in this campaign, and523,000 participating shops across the country. A total of 7.63 billion baht’sworth of transactions have so far been made, with the government paying 3.74billion baht in addition to the amount paid by the public at 3.89 billion baht.
The average amount of value per transaction in this campaign is 216 baht, withBangkok being the province with the highest level of campaign spending,followed by Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, and Chiang Mai.
The Ministry of Finance will be opening the second round of applications formembers of the public to participate in this campaign on November 11, from 6amto 11pm on the campaign’s website.
This second registration opening is also intended for persons whose initialapplication was rejected, and successful applicants who failed to maketransactions within 14 days after receiving their confirmation SMS. Shops andvendors can register to participate at any time.
On concerns regarding mobile transactions and registrations, Minister of theInterior Gen Anupong Paochinda has directed provincial governors and districtchiefs to promote the campaign as well as participating shops and vendors intheir areas, with the goal of having more than 1 million participating storesto better increase cash flow.
The Prime Minister has, however, voiced his concerns on potential fraudulentactivities, such as shops charging customers a higher price to receive anincreased subsidy, or making a fake transaction.
He has asked for the cooperation of the general public and participating shopsto adhere to the campaign’s terms and conditions, warning that any report ofsuspicious transactions can lead to a ban on both the vendor’s and thecustomer’s account in the campaign, with possible legal action to follow./.
VNA
