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I voted Pheu Thai and I don’t agree with their 10,000 baht digital wallet policy.
First of all, we all got f*cked over by this latest election and none of us is truly happy with the choices or outcomes that have followed. Move Forward Party got their win taken from them, Pheu Thai Party teamed up with the uncles.
I think it’s important to call out on your party of choice when they do something terrible. That’s how a democratic society works – you can keep the politicians in check and balance, you make sure that they get criticised when they mess up.
So, even though I voted Phue Thai this year, I have to say there are things I’m not happy about. One of them being the 10,000 baht digital wallet that they’re planning to give all of us.
The 10,000 baht digital wallet will send all of us in debt for 560 billion baht. It will raise the State Fiscal and Financial Disciplines bar, putting us in a worse financial situation as a country, and worse of all – this welfare won’t fix the real problems.
Pheu Thai released this policy about a month before the election which made me wonder if they actually had time to think it through, because why would you do that? They must know that we don’t have any money right now as a country?
I’m not a tech expert but I also don’t see how blockchain would come into making this happen, too because the bottom line still remains that we don’t have the money to make it happen, whatever we choose to go with.
Not to mention that a lot of our population still doesn’t have smartphones. So, if this welfare was to tackle poverty and improve underprivileged people’s lives, well, maybe first they have to be able to access this technology first?
Personally, giving a 10,000 baht digital wallet will be like that proverb: give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
You’re not fixing the core problems of anything. Of course, if you give me money, I will gladly and happily accept it, but the consequences in the long run that we’d all have to take as taxpayers, are not worth it at all.
Perhaps the most significant concern is that unconditional cash transfers may divert attention and resources away from targeted solutions to complex societal problems. Poverty and income inequality require multifaceted approaches that address not only immediate financial needs but also education, healthcare, job training, and economic development. By focusing solely on providing money, we risk overlooking the root causes of these issues.