Nine Million Thais Will Get The 2,000 Baht Cash Check

[george]

Nine million will get cash

BANGKOK: -- Some 9.4 million people, including state officials and subscribers to the Social Security Office (SSO), were entitled to the government's Bt2,000 hand-out cheques, Deputy PM Korbsak Sabhavasu said yesterday.

Authorities were looking also at whether 132,000 private school teachers and personnel were also entitled to receive the pay-out, he said.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet agreed yesterday that SSO subscribers who fail to pay their monthly contribution have the right to resume being a subscriber, on condition that they must give notice of their intention to resume being a member within 90 days.

Deputy spokesman of the Prime Minister's Office Suparak Kuanha announced that the Cabinet had approved draft legislation proposed by the Labour Ministry for the resumption of SSO member rights to those who lost it from January 1, 1992 until the date this law comes into effect.

People must notify the SSO of their intention to regain membership within 90 days. Their rights would resume a month after their request was approved and they would not have to pay contributions for the period their membership was expired.

Korbsak also said people who sought to become SSO subscribers again would also be entitled to receive a Bt2,000 gift cheque.

Meanwhile, a seminar was held yesterday for SSO executives and Labour officials in preparation for distribution of the Bt2,000 cheques to SSO subscribers who earn less than Bt15,000 a month.

SSO chief Pan Wannapinij urged those at the meeting to think how to submit the names of those entitled to the money, distributing the cheques and collecting related documents for the Office of the Auditor General. He affirmed that the cheques should reach the people no later than April 30.

-- The Nation 2009-02-17

[Bangyai]

Sadly, those that need it most, the very poor, will be unlikely to see any of it.

[LuckyFive8888]

not good policy of the DEMS. the free electricity and free water bill up to certain amount is far better because it's for everyone, this new policy is only for the one's register at SSO. the DEMS sucks, i thought Aphisit is better but not anymore....

[sriracha john]

Nine million will get cash

distribution of the Bt2,000 cheques to SSO subscribers who earn less than Bt15,000 a month.

Very good plan of the Democrats to help spur the economy by providing a small amount of extra income to those hard-working people that aren't rich. Well done.

[JoeThePoster]

Lottery tickets - Baht 500

Lao Khao & party - Baht 1,500

Visit local brothel - Baht 500

Thamboon to offset all above - PRICELESS!

[TAWP]

Hope they spend my money I earned for them well...no, who am I kidding...

I love it how governments thinks the money is theirs to spend.

[Lorin]

If those ppl vote Dems in the next elections, money well spent..

[Plus]

The idea is to get people to spend so that others can keep their jobs supplying the goods.

Probably the fastest way to spur some economic activity, a lot faster than putting money in education or healthcare or all other things the govt usually spends money on.

I often hear that cash put into the economy circulates seven times - perhaps the govt will get most of it back through VAT and other taxes.

The total amount is really small on a country scale.

[jdinasia]

Let's see ... people that paid into the fund (granted .. not too much) are getting some back from the fund ....?

But yes, let's complain about things not related to the fund!

[Journalist]

I hope the money isn't being debited to the Fund.

That defies the point of the exercise if their fund itself is being depleted.

To illustrate: if your pension fund spontaneously sent you a cheque before you retired, and said it came from your account, you wouldn't just rush out and spend it willy nilly - after all...its your money anyway.

If its not and the cash is coming from another pot, then fine.

[apetley]

Wifey was told today that it is to be paid with monthly salary.

[js1]

not good policy of the DEMS. the free electricity and free water bill up to certain amount is far better because it's for everyone, this new policy is only for the one's register at SSO. the DEMS sucks, i thought Aphisit is better but not anymore....

Free electricity? When did that happen??

[Gravelrash]

G/F getting this too, at this stage has no plans for a big spending spree, did suggest my birthdays coming up though.. Many governments are doing similar, if wanting to pump prime the economy not a bad tactic, some will be saved and some spend, but of course it is also about keeping the voters happy. Some blogs are attacking Anbhisit over this, but he is just doing the same as so many other governments with an eye to the next election.

[tartempion]

So not a single rice farmer, food stall owner, small shop owner will see any of it

And were does the money come from? I thought Thailand is short on money?

Didn't I read they have for 6 weeks money to pay government workers?

[samgrowth]

2,000 Baht spent by Mark purely to buy vote. Watch out, the amount will be up by the next (and every) opposition party in the next (and every) election.

Imagine this:

Party A "Vote for my party, if our party win, we will give 10,000 baht to eveyone too boost the economy."

Party B "Vote for my party, if our party win, we will give 20,000 baht to eveyone too boost the economy."

Party C "Vote for my party, if our party win, we will give 40,000 baht to eveyone too boost the economy."

Started by Thaksin, Thailand have found a legal way of vote buying by using public funds.

[hammered]

So not a single rice farmer, food stall owner, small shop owner will see any of it

And were does the money come from? I thought Thailand is short on money?

Didn't I read they have for 6 weeks money to pay government workers?

Plenty of security guards, factory workers, hotel workers, messengers etc will see it. I could personally name at least a dozen such who are on well low monthly salaries but in the sso fund. Some of these are kids of rice farmers so it gets around. Some will spend it on food or in small shops so it moves around again.

As others have said most world leaders have accepted that pumping pure cash into the economy is the best way to get it moving. Targetting it at groups that will spend it quick is generally also recognised as the way to go. These groups usually include those on lower incomes and unemployed. The middle classes have more of a tendency to horde it.

[TAWP]

So not a single rice farmer, food stall owner, small shop owner will see any of it

And were does the money come from? I thought Thailand is short on money?

Didn't I read they have for 6 weeks money to pay government workers?

Plenty of security guards, factory workers, hotel workers, messengers etc will see it. I could personally name at least a dozen such who are on well low monthly salaries but in the sso fund. Some of these are kids of rice farmers so it gets around. Some will spend it on food or in small shops so it moves around again.

As others have said most world leaders have accepted that pumping pure cash into the economy is the best way to get it moving. Targetting it at groups that will spend it quick is generally also recognised as the way to go. These groups usually include those on lower incomes and unemployed. The middle classes have more of a tendency to horde it.

I would say that a lot of people are against the idea of pushing [future, aka virtual] public funds around like it was their [politicians] to handle as they see fit, one of them being to try to jump-start failing economies instead of cleaning it up.

If your car is broken you fix it, you don't pump more gas into it.

http://libertariansinthailand.wordpress.co...airy-economics/

[Plus]

Oh, these know it all libertarians...

Still haven't noticed that free, unregulated and unsupervised economy is the main cause of the current crisis.

Domestic consumption surge is an answer to shrinking export markets, nothing more nothing less. Someone has to consume all that stuff the factories pump out every day. Either that or millions of people will be out of jobs.

Instead of labelling everyone else stupid the libertarians should accept they have no clue themselves, just like everyone else, and not put their ideological cart in front of the horse.

[parryhandy]

Oh, these know it all libertarians...

Still haven't noticed that free, unregulated and unsupervised economy is the main cause of the current crisis.

Domestic consumption surge is an answer to shrinking export markets, nothing more nothing less. Someone has to consume all that stuff the factories pump out every day. Either that or millions of people will be out of jobs.

Instead of labelling everyone else stupid the libertarians should accept they have no clue themselves, just like everyone else, and not put their ideological cart in front of the horse.

The world economy is the most regulated that it has ever been you fool!

look up Regulatory capture , no on second thoughts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

[dave9988]

the whiskey companies and illegal lotteries are gonna see a nice rise in business!

[sriracha john]

The present government’s response to the crisis gives rise to the hope that it would respond creatively to existential challenges, too. The government has decided to distribute around 2,000 Thai baht in cash to each worker who earn less than 15,000 baht monthly. Its success will be closely watched. Some call it a political ploy to wean away the supporters of Thaksin. But, for us, it is an interesting economic experiment and one that makes a lot of sense. If private demand is weak and if the economy is operating below potential, the best thing to do is to help private demand revive rather than substitute it with public spending.

- Wall Street Journal

[sriracha john]

Will the billions in loan forgiveness being earmarked for farmers help them forget about the 2,000 baht?

[Plus]

The world economy is the most regulated that it has ever been you fool!

Oh, THAT's why no one knows the real depth and extent of those financial shenanigans, because it's been "most regulated".

That's why dozens of biggest Wall Street companies, dozens of banks, entire financial systems of several coutnries collapsed - they were "most regulated".

It's the "regulation" that caused the financial meltdown.

I've been a fool. Thanks to libertarians for pointing out this obvious truth.

Where can I join your cult?

[permanent_disorder]

The present government’s response to the crisis gives rise to the hope that it would respond creatively to existential challenges, too. The government has decided to distribute around 2,000 Thai baht in cash to each worker who earn less than 15,000 baht monthly. Its success will be closely watched. Some call it a political ploy to wean away the supporters of Thaksin. But, for us, it is an interesting economic experiment and one that makes a lot of sense. If private demand is weak and if the economy is operating below potential, the best thing to do is to help private demand revive rather than substitute it with public spending.

- Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal? the Wall Street Journal said 'that makes a lot of sense'? in bold?

can i read it online? why don't provide a hypertext link?

and if that is not possible, can you give some more details of the reference? publication date? author? is that an article with a title?

have a look at the Harvard System of Referencing Guide. you don't have to follow exactly that way, but just for inspiration.

http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/har...arvard_id=33#33

http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/har...arvard_id=58#58

you know, some people would like to read the whole text and not just the paragraphs you have selected. more information of the source makes it easier to do so. thank you.

[mc2]

2,000 Baht spent by Mark purely to buy vote. Watch out, the amount will be up by the next (and every) opposition party in the next (and every) election.

Imagine this:

Party A "Vote for my party, if our party win, we will give 10,000 baht to eveyone too boost the economy."

Party B "Vote for my party, if our party win, we will give 20,000 baht to eveyone too boost the economy."

Party C "Vote for my party, if our party win, we will give 40,000 baht to eveyone too boost the economy."

Started by Thaksin, Thailand have found a legal way of vote buying by using public funds.

exactly .

plus they will probably use the money to buy a new mobile phone from china or taiwan , most of that money will go out the country.

[tartempion]

Will the billions in loan forgiveness being earmarked for farmers help them forget about the 2,000 baht?

What are you talking about?

The only loans I hear about here are loan sharks squeezing people to death.

I see one everyday on his motorbike collecting his due at some noodle shop.

My GF and sisters worked many years (at least 15 years of her life) to pay off the fathers debt for owning the rice land, then to pay for the house, then the water pump, then for the son's motorbike.

Two years ago we lend the family 30K and an other sister also 30K to finance the Kubota. They repaid 10k last year and we let it go.

Don't know of any one here loaning from the government and thus no forgiveness around!

[sriracha john]

Will the billions in loan forgiveness being earmarked for farmers help them forget about the 2,000 baht?

What are you talking about?

The only loans I hear about here are loan sharks squeezing people to death.

I see one everyday on his motorbike collecting his due at some noodle shop.

My GF and sisters worked many years (at least 15 years of her life) to pay off the fathers debt for owning the rice land, then to pay for the house, then the water pump, then for the son's motorbike.

Two years ago we lend the family 30K and an other sister also 30K to finance the Kubota. They repaid 10k last year and we let it go.

Don't know of any one here loaning from the government and thus no forgiveness around!

Government to help pay farmers' debts

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a 5.7-billion-baht budget to pay off farmers' debts and rehabilitate debtors, according to Farmer Rehabilitation Development Fund acting Secretary-General Sangsit Piriyarangsan.

He said 1.573 billion baht out of the total budget will be set aside to pay off farmers' debts while 4.149 billion baht will be used to rehabilitate 69,155 farmers.

A number of farmers owe the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) 124 million baht, while another 831 million baht are non-performing loans. A group of farmers also have 616 million baht in debt with commercial banks and juristic persons.

Feb. 17th dated article continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/13...y-farmers-debts

[hammered]

Will the billions in loan forgiveness being earmarked for farmers help them forget about the 2,000 baht?

What are you talking about?

The only loans I hear about here are loan sharks squeezing people to death.

I see one everyday on his motorbike collecting his due at some noodle shop.

My GF and sisters worked many years (at least 15 years of her life) to pay off the fathers debt for owning the rice land, then to pay for the house, then the water pump, then for the son's motorbike.

Two years ago we lend the family 30K and an other sister also 30K to finance the Kubota. They repaid 10k last year and we let it go.

Don't know of any one here loaning from the government and thus no forgiveness around!

The farmers groups are actually asking for debt forgiveness from banks and government loans. They arent asking forgiveness from loan sharks. A lot of the debt forgiveness issue is dealing with Thaksin legacy. A lot was leant under him and therefore people/farmers organizations think he is needed top forgive what he leant. However, the Dems are trying to bypass that conventional wisdom. Who knows if it will work.

Various government banks will lend farmers money against land and then that debt gets forgiven. That is the way it works. There is also a village fund. People do not go to a loan shark unless they have exhausted these options. In my couple of decades here and from what I have seen in a poor lower northern rural community and several towns I would say that loan sharking is far more prevalent in urban areas and that in villages farmers know exactly how to borrow money from funds and banks and avoid loan sharks although the gambling cliques etc do have more of tendency to get drawn into that aspect of usary.

As for the 2000 baht, the sons and daughters of many farmers working in big towns as guards, messengers, drivers etc will be getting it as long as they took the monthly salary option when employed. The farmers will be eligibnle for debt forgiiveness if they have debt and not all farmers do. The government has also said it will identify and hand out unused state land to farmers. We must see if this schemme will ocme off but if it does it is another thing. All of these options are complimentary and obviously aimed at pleasing different groups. Why attack one scheme because it excludes some while not mentioning another scheme that benefits that group? Is handing out state land to poor farmers wrong because the urban dwellers cant get it? Is forgiving farmers debt wrong because the middle class dont qualify?

It is funny to see some people on here so ideologically obsessed that they cant see that when it came down to it the invisible hand just wasnt there in all that lassiez-faire. We will see a future with more regulation and more government involvement in financial affairs simply because that is what people now want. They dont trust the financial gurus to be left alone and mismanage everything. The Economist and WSJ as well as lunatics like Krudlow are going to have to come to terms with that. It may swing back to less regulation again at some future point but now is not that time. Most big name economists now see nationalisation of the US banking sector as the best way out. Even some republican senator called for it the otgher day. In that atmosphere what the Thai government is doing is not any different from what other governments are doing to try and prtoect their people and their jobs and lives.

[permanent_disorder]

The present government’s response to the crisis gives rise to the hope that it would respond creatively to existential challenges, too. The government has decided to distribute around 2,000 Thai baht in cash to each worker who earn less than 15,000 baht monthly. Its success will be closely watched. Some call it a political ploy to wean away the supporters of Thaksin. But, for us, it is an interesting economic experiment and one that makes a lot of sense. If private demand is weak and if the economy is operating below potential, the best thing to do is to help private demand revive rather than substitute it with public spending.

- Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal? the Wall Street Journal said 'that makes a lot of sense'? in bold?

can i read it online? why don't provide a hypertext link?

and if that is not possible, can you give some more details of the reference? publication date? author? is that an article with a title?

have a look at the Harvard System of Referencing Guide. you don't have to follow exactly that way, but just for inspiration.

http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/har...arvard_id=33#33

http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/har...arvard_id=58#58

you know, some people would like to read the whole text and not just the paragraphs you have selected. more information of the source makes it easier to do so. thank you.

no addition, no information how to find that article in the Wall Street Journal.

so i guess - faux news and that this article never appeared in the WSJ.

i know you are very selective which news you place and copypasta here in the forum. but okay, you never claimed that your selection is balanced and it's not your job to post 'everything'. and even if one would try to be balanced, one or the other side you would still feel that is it one sided. you can not pleased everyone.

but please, be correct with "your" news and don't fabricate something that doesn't exist. keep to the rules. thank you.

[samgrowth]

Will the billions in loan forgiveness being earmarked for farmers help them forget about the 2,000 baht?

What are you talking about?

The only loans I hear about here are loan sharks squeezing people to death.

I see one everyday on his motorbike collecting his due at some noodle shop.

My GF and sisters worked many years (at least 15 years of her life) to pay off the fathers debt for owning the rice land, then to pay for the house, then the water pump, then for the son's motorbike.

Two years ago we lend the family 30K and an other sister also 30K to finance the Kubota. They repaid 10k last year and we let it go.

Don't know of any one here loaning from the government and thus no forgiveness around!

Government to help pay farmers' debts

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a 5.7-billion-baht budget to pay off farmers' debts and rehabilitate debtors, according to Farmer Rehabilitation Development Fund acting Secretary-General Sangsit Piriyarangsan.

He said 1.573 billion baht out of the total budget will be set aside to pay off farmers' debts while 4.149 billion baht will be used to rehabilitate 69,155 farmers.

A number of farmers owe the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) 124 million baht, while another 831 million baht are non-performing loans. A group of farmers also have 616 million baht in debt with commercial banks and juristic persons.

Feb. 17th dated article continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/13...y-farmers-debts

Does the tax payers have a say in these kind of things? The govt have been giving freebies to buy vote, and the tax payers are funding it.