BANGKOK– There has been strong criticism of the government’s 3-month 5,000 baht monthly compensation scheme, in regard to the campaign’s criteria for eligibility. The Cabinet has now approved an extension of the campaign to cover more people affected by the COVID-19 disruption, now totaling about 14 million persons.
The Ministry of Finance yesterday reported in the Cabinet’s meeting that registrations in this compensation campaign have seen 27.76 persons register from 28th March to 16th April, a number much higher than expected.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has received complaints from some rejected registrants whose listed occupational information was inaccurate, particularly those listed as farmers while in fact their main occupations are general employees, laborers, or freelancers.
The Ministry of Finance will be extending the campaign to cover these people, who will however, no longer receive any other COVID-19 related aid packages offered through farmers’ groups or cooperatives should they apply under those schemes.
Additionally, registrants who have been rejected because the system recognized their occupation as student, but who are actually part-time students while mainly working at full-time or freelance jobs, will also be covered.
This extension of the campaign raises the number of eligible persons from 9 million to 14 million.(NNT)
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