Welfare card changes ‘left genuinely poor people behind’

People’s Party deputy leader Sirikanya Tansakun has strongly criticised the stricter eligibility criteria for the state welfare card programme, arguing that the tighter screening process has excluded many genuinely poor people from receiving assistance. She made the comment on Friday as public anger mounted about the system that used data from state agencies — tax, property and vehicle registration, along with banking records — to reduce the number of people eligible for welfare benefits by nearly 30%. Ms Sirikanya, also a party-list MP, said the Ministry of Finance had planned from the outset to reduce the number of welfare card recipients during the 2026 registration round. Pointing to the programme’s budget, which was cut to 42 billion baht this year from more than 50 billion previously, she said the government had “clearly intended” to reduce the number of beneficiaries to between 9 million and 10 million — from 13.2 million at present — by imposing more stringent eligibility criteria. “The problem is that many people who are genuinely poor and in real hardship have been left out,” she said. Ms Sirikanya said complaints had flooded in since Friday morning from applicants who were disqualified despite meeting the programme’s intended purpose. Some applicants found inaccurate government records showing they owned vehicles they had never possessed, apparently because someone else had fraudulently used their identity. Others were recorded as owning more than 10 rai of land when they did not, while some were disqualified because motorcycles registered under their names had been used by family members. “This raises a major question about whether the government’s effort to remove as many people as possible from the system has also excluded those who are truly in need,” Ms Sirikanya said. (Story continues below) Farmers, elderly people and others arrive at the BAAC branch in Lam Plai Mat district of Buri Ram province on Friday to seek assistance from bank staff in checking their eligibility for the state welfare card scheme. She also criticised the appeals process, saying many people were confused about how and where to challenge disqualification decisions. Applicants were told to file appeals through the same channels used during registration, leading to overcrowding at banks. The programme’s website instructed people to contact whichever agency held the disputed information. She said the Department of Land Transport, which holds vehicle ownership records, had been overwhelmed, with its telephone hotlines impossible to reach. “This reflects poor preparation by the Ministry of Finance, particularly the Office of the Permanent Secretary, which appears not to have coordinated an appeals system with other agencies,” said the People’s Party deputy leader. She urged the government to act quickly to resolve the confusion and ensure that genuinely disadvantaged people were not excluded because of overly rigid screening criteria. Asked whether budget constraints had prompted the tougher rules, Ms Sirikanya said funding was likely a contributing factor. When the government first planned a fresh registration round for fiscal 2026, only 30 billion baht had initially been allocated, implying that the number of beneficiaries would have been cut by about half. The allocation later increased to 42 billion baht for fiscal 2027, allowing the programme to cover nearly 10 million recipients. Ms Sirikanya also questioned the use of inflexible eligibility criteria, arguing that poverty cannot be measured solely by fixed thresholds. She said some applicants may own more than 10 rai of land but generate very little income from it, while small business operators with debts exceeding 100,000 baht may still face severe financial hardship despite being excluded under the current rules. “The government is trying to correct past mistakes, when some people who were not genuinely poor received welfare cards,” she said. “But combined with budget limitations, the result has been a screening process that is far too strict, leaving some truly needy people without support.” (Story continues below) Sirikanya Tansakun, the deputy leader of the People’s Party, says government agencies have been overwhelmed with queries from people who were disqualified from the welfare card programme because of records, such as vehicle or property registration, that were outdated or inaccurate. Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas defended the new screening process after the number of successful applicants fell sharply. Of the 18.8 million people who registered for the 2026 State Welfare Programme, only 9.5 million met the requirements, while 9.3 million were disqualified. Mr Ekniti attributed the large number of rejected applicants to more comprehensive cross-checking of government databases, including records on taxation, land ownership, income and vehicle ownership. Tighter verification was intended to ensure that only genuinely poor people qualified for assistance, he said. “The purpose of this rigorous screening is to bring genuinely poor people into the system. The government wants to help those who are truly struggling,” he said on Friday in Shanghai, where he was with Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on an official visit to China. “Welfare budgets are limited, so this card should go to those who have virtually nothing, such as bedridden elderly people with no income. 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