The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) expects a new data lake system to improve the efficiency of screening state welfare card recipients.According to Vinit Visessuvanapoom, director-general of the FPO, there are 13.2 million state welfare cardholders and the government plans to allocate around 50 billion baht annually for the programme.
Cardholders receive 300 baht monthly credited to their cards to purchase consumer goods, along with transport allowances for public transit and subsidies for water and electricity bills.
Mr Vinit said that in the 2026 budget plan, the government originally intended to review the eligibility of state welfare card recipients by using the Finance Ministry's data lake system, known as ARI Score.
This digital database links information from various agencies such as the electricity authorities, waterworks authorities and the Land Department, among others. The system can verify an individual's financial status to determine whether they qualify for the state welfare card. Qualifications include being a Thai citizen aged 18 or older and having an annual income not exceeding 100,000 baht.
Mr Vinit said screening via a digital system would reduce the number of eligible recipients, resulting in the fiscal 2026 budget allocation for the state welfare card programme being 20 billion baht lower than in previous years.
