The People's Party (PP) has criticised the government's revised state welfare card criteria, saying the changes reflect poor policy coordination and could exclude vulnerable people from assistance.
Veerayooth Kanchoochat, a party-list MP and chairman of the House committee on economic development, said confusion over eligibility was not solely the responsibility of the Finance Ministry or Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, but of the cabinet as a whole.
He said the revised criteria were approved by the cabinet on July 14 and so represented a collective decision. He questioned why ministers responsible for transport, social development and other sectors had failed to scrutinise issues such as vehicle ownership and disability classifications before the policy was endorsed.
"This is the second revision and problems remain," he said, referring to an earlier controversy in June when some people lost eligibility because their names had been used by their children in tax deduction claims.
Mr Veerayooth also raised concerns about criteria affecting farmers. Under current rules, applicants may be disqualified if they own more than 10 rai of land or have agricultural debt exceeding 100,000 baht.
He said the thresholds did not reflect conditions in rural areas. According to agricultural data, the average farmer owns about 17 rai, while many carry debts above the current limit. Using land ownership alone as an indicator of wealth could unfairly exclude low-income farmers whose earnings depend on crop yields and fluctuating market conditions, he said.
He urged the government to adopt a more comprehensive assessment system using data from multiple ministries instead of relying on individual indicators such as vehicle ownership, landholdings or debt levels.
