The rise of Srettha Thavisin to the role of prime minister, accompanied by the Pheu Thai Party’s prominent participation in government formation, has brought its stimulus strategy into the limelight. This strategy involves loading 10,000 baht onto digital wallets with the aim of invigorating the grassroots economy. The policy has captured significant attention, even among individuals not aligned with the Pheu Thai Party.
A flurry of conversations concerning this policy has permeated social media channels, triggering a wave of counterfeit news and deceitful applications capitalizing on the situation.
On August 24, the Pheu Thai Party released a statement to quell these misconceptions, urging citizens to disregard such claims. Reports have emerged of malevolent entities disseminating images and messages on social media that falsely assert the cancellation of the 10,000 baht digital wallet distribution. Furthermore, these ill-intentioned actors have been responsible for proliferating counterfeit applications.
Treechada Srithada, the deputy spokesperson for Pheu Thai, clarified, “Since the Pheu Thai Party is currently in the process of government formation, evaluating cabinet appointments, and the official transfer of power has not taken place, no digital wallet app exists at the moment, and no registration procedure has been initiated.”
She went on to affirm that, as a pivotal participant in the government formation, the party indeed intends to drive forward with the 10,000 baht digital wallet initiative. Plans are underway to promptly execute this policy. Consequently, the efforts by malicious entities to propagate misinformation about the rescission of the digital wallet initiative seem to be a calculated attempt to undermine citizens’ hopes.
Regarding the Digital Coin Policy, more commonly referred to as Pheu Thai Digital Wallets, which directly disburses funds into citizens’ wallets, campaign-related details have specified eligibility for Thai citizens aged 16 and above, holding a 13-digit national ID card. The elderly, individuals with disabilities, and those benefiting from various forms of social aid will receive the full sum without any deductions, ensuring a minimum of 50 million beneficiaries.
The Pheu Thai Party has elucidated that the 10,000 baht allocated to the Digital Purse will be seamlessly transferred into citizens’ digital wallets via a system devised to maximize citizen benefit. Notably, the 10,000 baht granted to individuals will be dispensed in the form of vouchers, rather than cryptocurrencies.
Enterprises accepting the 10,000 baht provided by policy users will have the opportunity to subsequently convert the digital funds into physical currency at participating financial institutions. The Pheu Thai Party’s estimations reveal that if 50 million individuals each receive 10,000 baht, the cumulative sum would amass to 500 billion baht, consequently triggering a substantial 6-fold economic multiplier.
This cascade effect would inject a staggering 3 trillion baht into the economy. Assuming a smooth government formation process, the policy is slated to come into effect on January 1, 2024.
