The recent exposure on social media of a male model who appears to live a life of comfort but holds a state welfare card meant for the poor has not only baffled many netizens, but also brought into question the credibility of the screening process in this new scheme.
The Finance Ministry, which is in charge of implementing the welfare scheme, has launched a probe into the male model.
On his Facebook page, the model posted photos of a welfare card which he obtained from the state to subsidise his monthly living and transport expenses, along with other photos of him posing with expensive items like a wristwatch, a laptop and a smartphone. His lifestyle does not seem to be that of a low-income earner, while other photos show him drinking iced coffee at an upscale coffee chain, dining at a Japanese restaurant and training at a members-only gym.
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Soonruth Bunyamanee is Deputy Editor, Bangkok Post..
This has drawn public criticism as to why this man is eligible for a welfare card when he does not appear to be poor at all. But Finance Ministry spokesman Suwit Rojanawanich recently said an initial probe confirmed the man meets the criteria set for recipients of the scheme.
Under the criteria, welfare card recipients must be Thai nationals, 18 years old or older, earn no more than 100,000 baht a year, and have savings in their bank account of no more than 100,000 baht. In addition, if they own property, it must be no larger than 25 square wah for a house or 35 sq m for an apartment.
Even though the model has come forward to insist he is in fact "poor" and that the pictured items were borrowed from friends or modelling agents for photo shoots, the question of the credibility of the screening process still looms over this scheme.
The welfare card provides monthly credit of either 200 or 300 baht for grocery shopping at designated stores and, for those living in Bangkok and its six adjacent provinces, another 1,500-baht credit for public transport.
The next question is how many more cardholders who live similar lives of comfort and enjoy stylish lifestyles are receiving subsidies under the scheme initiated by the junta government and financed by taxpayers' money.
There has been criticism over disparity in the cards' allocation. Many people have questioned why they were not granted the card although their living conditions are the same as other cardholders. Many have also expressed confusion over why they aren't eligible for the card when their economic status is worse than many card recipients'.
I can say the government's criteria set for screening the poor is not an effective determining factor. The issue was much debated before the implementation of the scheme, but the government insisted on going ahead with it.
Many people do not own homes because they live at their parents' houses. Others, such as online traders, do not have their incomes recorded in the government's tax system because they are paid in cash. Many new graduates who are unemployed are also eligible.
In fact, the age ceiling should be increased. Why does the government give subsidies only to the supposed healthy and young people who are able to work? What the government should do is ensure they receive equal access to education and employment as well as create more jobs for them.
Somchai Jitsuchon, research director for inclusive development at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), has notably questioned the accuracy of the scheme's screening process.
He said the number of people living below the poverty line, as defined by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), is only about 4-5 million people.
But the number of people seeking to register themselves with the government as "poor" is as high as 14 million people. The screening process cut the number to 11 million people.
Even if the NESDB loosened its definition of people living under the poverty line and its estimate for people living under the poverty line doubles, it would still be lower than 11 million. This means that a large number of state welfare cardholders are not actually poor.
Mr Somchai noted that the government hired students to survey whether those who applied for the subsidies were really poor. The collected information could be wrong since the students might not have been able to verify recipients' economic and living conditions.
He suggested that the government consider using applicants' consumption spending data to classify their economic and living conditions, which would give a more accurate picture. The data can be traced via their use of debit, credit and cash cards issued by financial institutions.
The budget of the welfare card scheme is about 40 billion baht a year. If part of the money, let's say 10 billion baht, goes into the pockets of those who are not needy, the remaining 30 billion baht would have little effect in solving inequality. It would instead widen the income disparity because the government would be handing out subsidies to undeserving people, noted the economist.
Like it or not, the welfare card scheme is a populist policy. Since positive effects of the economic rebound have not been felt by most people, particularly low- and middle-income earners, the scheme may let the 11 million eligible cardholders feel that the government has implemented a policy with concrete results after its rule of more than three years.
The words of wisdom of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej should not be forgotten. On Dec 4, 1998 the late King addressed the principles of helping people in need:
"We should not hand out fish as their food but should rather give them a fishing tool and teach them how to catch fish."
