The government is taking money from the Ministry of Public Health, among other ministries, to help support its emergency 600 billion baht bailout aid for those afflicted by the coronavirus outbreak.
The government said that 940 million baht will be taken from the Health Ministry while it plans to cut another 2.4 billion baht from national health security fund.
The People’s Health Systems Movement has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday to ask the government to reconsidered taking the money from the Ministry of Health and the national health security fund.
They said the fund for the universal healthcare for 49 million people should not be sacrificed at a time of a national health emergency.
They also said that there are less people in hospitals right now because of the social distancing measures and the nationwide lockdown, not because everyone is healthier.
The plan needs cabinet approval before it will be finalized.
Army purchase
Despite insisting that the health ministry and the health security fund give back money to help those afflicted by the virus, the government was mostly silent when the army revealed plans earlier this week that it was planning to purchase new armored personnel carriers for 4.5 billion baht.
Only after widespread criticism did the army publicly reveal that it had postponed the purchase to next year.
It is the second time in two months that the Thai armed forces have backed down from arms purchases as Thai people question their priorities. The Royal Thai Navy last month withdrew their plans to buy a warship worth around 6.1 billion baht following heavy criticism from opposition parties and the public.
Some left behind
Despite the government’s promise that no Thai would be left behind by its bailout plan, it was revealed on Thursday that only 14 million workers will receive the full amount of the government’s rescue plan.
Approximately 28.8 million people have registered to receive the aid.
How to the government will fund aid program
| Agency | 2020 Fiscal Budget | Allocation to emergency fund (billion baht) |
| Ministry of Defence | 233 bn | 17.8 bn |
| Ministry of Interior | 353 bn | 4.9 bn |
| Ministry of Education | 368 bn | 4.8 bn |
| Ministry of Transport | 178 bn | 3.5 bn |
| Provincial agencies | – | 2.5 bn |
| Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation | 140 bn | 1.8 bn |
| Local administration offices | – | 1.9 bn |
| Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives | 109 bn | 1.2 bn |
| Prime Minister Office | 39 bn | 1.1 bn |
| State-own enterprises | – | 0.96 bn |
| Ministry of Public Health | 138 bn | 0.94 bn |
| Ministry of Finance | 249 bn | 0.78 bn |
| The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society | 6.8 bn | 0.67 bn |
| The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security | 21 bn | 0.59 bn |
| Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment | 30 bn | 0.58 bn |