Picture courtesy of Bangkokpost

The Election Commission is reviewing campaign promises worth trillions of baht after 51 political parties submitted details of 527 policies ahead of the general election on 8 February. The disclosures, released on 27 January 2026, outline budgets, funding sources, benefits, impacts and risks for proposals involving public spending. The move enables public scrutiny and formal assessment under election rules.

Under regulations, parties must submit policy details at least 20 days before polling day for public disclosure. The commission’s figures show that 527 policies requiring budget spending have been lodged so far, with wide variation in scale and focus across parties. The Democrat Party submitted the highest number of proposals at 91.

The Democrats’ proposed budget totals 2.12 trillion baht, led by agricultural income guarantees worth 360 billion baht, labour income insurance at 120 billion baht, and a 30-baht zoned fare cap for mass transit estimated at 50 billion baht. Pheu Thai followed with 43 policies requiring 243 billion baht, including a 60-billion-baht annual anti-poverty programme, a 3.5-billion-baht “Gifts for Thais” scheme and a 15-billion-baht annual debt suspension programme for farmers.

Pheu Thai said earlier it was prepared to submit details of its “Nine New Millionaires a Day” policy for scrutiny by the poll body. The party stressed the proposal was not a give-away but part of a broader fiscal and digital reform programme. The Election Commission has indicated it will review all submissions according to the rules.

The Klatham Party proposed 38 policies with a combined budget of 2.27 trillion baht. Its plans focus largely on water management, estimated at 400–550 billion baht, land reform at 35–48 billion baht, and agricultural development estimated at 120 billion baht.

The People’s Party submitted 36 policies requiring 742 billion baht, including drafting a new constitution, quality-of-life improvement projects worth 130 billion baht a year, and labour reskilling programmes estimated at 20 billion baht per year. The Bhumjaithai Party submitted eight policies totalling 148 billion baht, including the Khon La Krueng Plus co-payment scheme, an electricity subsidy scheme estimated at 63.4 billion baht, and a defence volunteer force estimated at 22.7 billion baht per year.

Bangkokpost reported that other parties submitted fewer policies, including the United Thai Nation Party with 21 and the Palang Pracharath Party with three. The commission’s review continues as voters prepare to cast ballots.

Key Takeaways

• The Election Commission is scrutinising 527 spending policies submitted by 51 parties ahead of the 8 February election.

• Proposed budgets range from hundreds of billions to trillions of baht, with Democrats and Klatham presenting the largest totals.

• All submissions must detail funding sources, benefits, impacts and risks for public disclosure and review.

  

Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkokpost 2026-01-28

 

 

Most people still waiting for the rest of the 10,000 THB payment promises from the last election

Where are all these trillions coming from is it going to drop out of the sky ! I heard that saying money grows on trees well my tree is now 20 years old and not one baht has appeared on any of the branches

On 1/28/2026 at 9:00 AM, SABloke said:

Most people still waiting for the rest of the 10,000 THB payment promises from the last election

On 1/28/2026 at 9:00 AM, SABloke said:

Most people still waiting for the rest of the 10,000 THB payment promises from the last election

The 10,000 baht give away, that was not given away, can easily be forgotten when people are goo goo eyed about becoming millionaires....lol

Little do they realize that those millions will mostly only be going to the people with the right connections....With only a modest few genuine million baht giveaways for photo ops..

All smoke and mirrors at election time, as usual.