On 7/18/2026 at 11:56 AM, KhunLA said:

I'm sure my wife could apply and get subsidies, since no monthly income, although, guessing she'd have to ommit the fact that she's married, and I qualify for retirement visa with at least 800k income a year. Would think that little tidbit, if revealed would disqualify her, as we have no liabilities to lower our monthly buyer power, that would require any need for assistance.

I don't think there is any restriction on registration, other than being over 16. It is another version of the 50-50, those that pay tax get 2400 and non taxpayers get 2000 with a spending limit of 200 a day.

My wife has been in every scheme since they started.

25 minutes ago, sandyf said:

You mean as well as the government money.

No, just his. Actually, he even bought the phone. 🤣

Wait till Anutin hears about this. "ไทยช่วยไทย discount scheme only for Thai people."

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

No, just his. Actually, he even bought the phone. 🤣

So you believe the OP was mistaken when it referred to a foreigner making use of the government scheme.

Under the scheme the government credit funds to a wallet and when you pay a bill 50% is taken from the government money up to 200 baht and you pay the difference.

If the bill is less than 400 baht it works out at 50% each, all done on the same phone.

23 hours ago, SmokeandIce said:

The most commonly spoken non-Thai languages in Thailand are:

Lao (Isan/Lao dialects) – By far the most widely spoken. Around 15–20 million people in northeastern Thailand speak Isan, which is closely related to Lao. Many linguists consider it a Lao language variety.

Chinese languages – Especially Teochew, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Although many Thai Chinese now primarily speak Thai, Mandarin use has grown due to education and business.

Malay (Pattani Malay) – Spoken by about 1.5–2 million people in the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and parts of Songkhla.

Khmer – Spoken by several hundred thousand people, mainly in provinces bordering Cambodia such as Surin, Sisaket, and Buriram.

Burmese (Myanmar languages) – Spoken by many migrant workers from Myanmar, including Burmese, Karen, Shan, and Mon.

English – Widely taught as a second language and commonly used in tourism, business, and international education, though relatively few people speak it fluently.

Vietnamese – Spoken by a smaller ethnic Vietnamese community, particularly in northeastern Thailand.

Karen languages – Spoken by Karen communities along the Thailand–Myanmar border.

My wife lived in Samut Prakan before we got married, she went to check out a few diff language schools to learn before we got her to the U.S.A. teacher choices were Korean, Filipino, British .. she went with the Filipino. was the best choice. and then when we got her to the America she was able to learn to speak spell and write in real english. She even aquired the nack of sarcasm with humor. ( oh boy )

A couple of months ago, driving thru Hua Hin. there was a group of young slim ladies on scooters all wearing matching gray hoodies

she uttered ... " they look like sperm swimming " and at the back of the pack was an obvious very large lady in the same attire

.. I pointed and started to say "and..... " she cut me off and just said .. " whale sperm ! "