Bangkok – Kla party leader Korn Chatikavanij has criticized the government’s latest relief payment program as not being inclusive, urging that more measures to help SMEs and taxpayers be included.
Mr. Korn said the government’s latest relief campaign which provides 3,500 baht monthly payments for two months to eligible persons is a good start, but is still not adequate as there are others who are affected by the situation.
He has called on the government to provide some type of compensation to affected SMEs, by considering their tax filings to see whether their income has dropped since the beginning of the pandemic.
He also proposed that the government waive personal income tax for lower-income persons who have paid their taxes regularly, whose monthly salary is around 20,000 to 40,000 baht, which numbers some three million taxpayers.
Mr Korn said the government still has enough budget to cover these proposals, as the government’s latest relief payments only cost about 200 billion baht out of the 600 billion baht budget available.
On the procurement of a COVID-19 vaccine for the Thai people, the Kla party leader said the government has been doing quite well, while commenting that the goal of 50% of the population vaccinated by the end of this year is a reasonable target, and one that should allow Thai people to return to their normal life. (NNT)
