yet more hollow populist gestures

a lower interest rate at pawnshops

But, aren't pawn shops private business that one walks into voluntarily to do biz on their terms ?

WIKI says

"Pawnbroking is also a traditional trade in Thailand, where pawn shops are run both privately and by local governments."

Furthermore all pawnshop fall under the Ministry of Interior and are regulated by the Pawn-shop Act, B.E.2505 and amended.

The irony is in you suggesting others would denounce such policies as populistic if presented by former governments while the policies seem to be the normal operation of governments. The irony of having someone suggesting others might complain that transparancy is populistic, that helping the poor directly is populistic.

What's next? Condemning subsidies clearly marked in the National Budget and aimed /paid out directly to farmers concerned as populistic as clearly some subsidies should be positioned as 'self-financing' and kept out of the National Budget to make things more clear and only be paid through deserving middlemen?

Let me see, if it is normal government operating, it also can't be called presents because presents are something which normally would not be received.

You want to say that if tomorrow they write in the National budget that everyone get free money, it can not be called populist practices anymore?

The rice scam was written in the National budget, yet they ware still condemned populist practices, and with reason.

The RPPS of the Yingluck government was NOT included in the National Budget as as 'self-financing' scheme it was deemed to be unnecessary.

As for your example on 'free money', you either mean 'tax returns', or you forgot to add " free money on sundays rather than saturdays" or "on rainy days only" ?

I had in mind free money "tomorrow".