Acting Democrat leader says policy statement doesn’t match election pledges

[webfact]

 

Acting Democrat party leader Jurin Laksanawisit told parliament today (Monday) that the government’s policies, delivered by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, do not match those promised by the Pheu Thai party during the election campaign.

 

He cited the party’s manifesto, promising to provide each family with an income under 20,000 baht a month with financial support, to bring their monthly earnings up to 20,000 baht, saying that this was not mentioned in the policy statement.

 

Pointing out that there are about 20 million such households, he said he doubts the government could secure the funding to realise this policy, which may cost the taxpayer about 100 billion baht per month.

 

-- Thai PBS 2023-09-11

 

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[Artisi]

2 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

Acting Democrat party leader Jurin Laksanawisit told parliament today (Monday) that the government’s policies, delivered by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, do not match those promised by the Pheu Thai party during the election campaign.

 

He cited the party’s manifesto, promising to provide each family with an income under 20,000 baht a month with financial support, to bring their monthly earnings up to 20,000 baht, saying that this was not mentioned in the policy statement.

 

Pointing out that there are about 20 million such households, he said he doubts the government could secure the funding to realise this policy, which may cost the taxpayer about 100 billion baht per month.

 

-- Thai PBS 2023-09-11

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

What they said pre-election has S F A to do with their intentions now they are in power. 

[2baht]

You can fool most of the people most of the time! 

[spidermike007]

The PT also said under no circumstances would they jump into bed with the highly toxic army goons. Yet, what happened? Their credibility is zero now. 

[Artisi]

3 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The PT also said under no circumstances would they jump into bed with the highly toxic army goons. Yet, what happened? Their credibility is zero now. 

Yes, but...... 

[KanchanaburiGuy]

It is a fair standard to hold a person o party to their pledges if they get wholly elected in the election.

 

But if gaining the premiership requires putting together a coalition of many parties to gain control, it is NOT a fair standard to try to hold them to all the promises made while campaigning.

 

Winner-takes-all gets to shape policy the way he or she wants.

 

Winner-by-coalition has to show some love to those groups and parties who ultimately made success possible.

 

So OF COURSE the policies being laid out in the Real World........ do not mirror the pledges made during the campaign! Of course they don't!

 

Winner-by-coalition means that policies will ultimately reflect and represent that coalition, NOT just the desires of the one "winner."

 

So, to a headline that says that policies do not reflect the pledges made during a campaign? THAT, I say, deserves a big ol'

 

"DUH!"

[Eric Loh]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

He cited the party’s manifesto, promising to provide each family with an income under 20,000 baht a month

Missed out an important word - subsidies of 20,000 B. 

[Srikcir]

13 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Missed out an important word - subsidies of 20,000 B. 

Yes, there is a disconnect in what Thavison says. Lack of specificity in critical terms and supporting data further confuses the alleged policy cost and impact. There is a subsidy involved but it's as yet undefinable.

 

The "handout" (or "gift" as Prayut liked to term public  payouts) is not 20,000 baht per household per month for 20 million households which the article seems to imply.

 

The supplemental/subsidy income provided by the government would be tied to a "target" or baseline of 20,000 baht income (what is income?) per month per household. So for a "household" (how is this defined-1 person, married couple, couple with child, etc.?), say

• Average household monthly income is 10,000 baht, then the subsidy would be 10,000 baht per month.

According to https://tradingeconomics.com  the average monthly income in Thailand for 1999 until 2023 was about 10,500 THB/month, reaching a record high of about 15,500 THB/month.

 

And income varies geographically (ie., higher in highly populated commercialized areas like Bangkok and metro area with 39,000 THB/month in 2021).  https://www.statisa.com

CEIC Data projects average monthly wages (vs income?) in 2024-2025 to be 16,300-16,500 THB.

 

Obviously, the proposed subsidy does not apply to the whole Thailand population nor to all households. So who is really benefited and to what degree?

 

According to the World Bank, Thailand's poverty rate for 2021 was 12.20% of the population (71.6 million). How is that affected by or tied to the proposed subsidy, the amount which isn't defined?

 

Democrat's criticism now is premature and appears to be just political theater. It is being an Actor and not a Player.

[hotchilli]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

that the government’s policies, delivered by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, do not match those promised by the Pheu Thai party during the election campaign.

Did anyone expect them to?

[mfd101]

It will be interesting to see how 'family' is defined.

 

My Khmer peasant family here in south Surin consists of: 2 grandparents (my FIL & MIL) in their 70s, 6 sons & daughters from this marriage in their 30s & 40s (ignoring another approx. 8 sons & daughters in their 50s from previous marriages), 4 husbands & wives of the daughters & sons (marriage here is matrilocal), & 9 children & teenagers, and that's ignoring assorted cousins in a village where just about everyone is 'cousin of Yong' (my MIL).

 

And guess who gets to keep all of that lot on the not-quite-stable financial road. I'll certainly be looking forward to the government's monthly brown envelopes.