Registration for the government's "Thais Help Thais Plus 60/40" co-payment scheme closed nearly four million places short of its 30 million target, despite attracting more than 26.04 million applicants in five days.
Government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said the programme drew 26,524,940 registrations, reflecting what she described as public confidence in the government's efforts to stimulate spending and ease living costs.
Of the total, 18,900,479 participants came from the earlier Khon La Khrueng Plus scheme and 7,624,461 were new applicants. However, 484,317 people failed eligibility screening, leaving about 3.96 million places unfilled from the government's allocation of 30 million entitlements.
After verification, 26,040,623 applicants qualified to receive benefits under the programme.
"Most rejected applications involved state welfare card holders, who are not eligible for the scheme. A total of 481,604 applications were disqualified on those grounds," she said.
Another 2,505 applicants were found to have died or permanently relocated overseas, while 208 people were excluded for breaching conditions under previous co-payment schemes.
The public registration period has ended, but the government continues to recruit merchants ahead of the programme's launch on June 1.
Permanent finance secretary Lavaron Sangsnit said more than 1.04 million merchants nationwide had registered to participate. The figure includes 69,582 newly registered businesses and 977,000 merchants from previous government subsidy programmes.
Of the existing merchants, 693,000 have confirmed participation through the Thung Ngern application, while more than 340,000 have yet to complete the confirmation process. The ministry is urging those businesses to accept the updated conditions so they can begin accepting payments when the scheme starts.
Restaurants and beverage outlets account for the largest share of participating businesses, at 595,139 outlets, followed by 274,334 general retailers and 160,702 Blue Flag shops, he said.
By region, the Northeast recorded the highest number of participating merchants at 203,407, followed by Bangkok with 156,144 and the Bangkok Metropolitan Region with 153,028.
Merchant registration remains open until July 31. Existing merchants from the Khon La Khrueng Plus programme can enrol through the Thung Ngern application, while new businesses can apply through branches of Krungthai Bank. Food and beverage vendors operating through delivery platforms will be able to join from June 10, he said.
The Finance Ministry is also preparing to launch "Nok Krasip" (Whispering Bird), an AI-powered assistant integrated into the Thung Ngern platform. The tool is intended to help small businesses analyse sales performance, manage inventory, assess financial health and improve access to formal credit.
Despite missing the government's participation target, a survey by E-Saan Poll under the Faculty of Economics at Khon Kaen University suggested the scheme retains broad public support.
The survey of 1,072 respondents across 20 northeastern provinces found that 45.4% believed the monthly subsidy of 1,000 baht for four months would provide moderate relief from rising living costs. Another 17.4% expected significant assistance, while 24.3% viewed the benefit as only marginally helpful.
Respondents also expressed a preference for stronger support. About 41.8% favoured a 70% government contribution, compared with 36.5% who supported the current 60% subsidy rate.
Under the scheme, the government covers 60% of eligible purchases while consumers pay the remaining 40%. Participants can receive support on purchases of up to 200 baht a day, capped at 1,000 baht a month, from June 1 to Sept 30.
