State welfare cardholders show their cards as they make purchases at a store in Samut Prakan province. (Bangkok Post file photo)
The Finance Ministry has revised the eligibility criteria for the state welfare card programme, a move expected to reduce the number of beneficiaries from 13.2 million people.Speaking after the cabinet approved the new criteria, the first major revision since 2022, finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit said the main change is a shift from a household-based assessment that combined the income and assets of all household members to an individual-based assessment. This shift aims to address past instances where households containing both wealthy and low-income members were collectively granted benefits.
"The switch to individual-based criteria will make the database more precise, supporting the future development of the government's planned negative income tax system. Applicants must be Thai nationals aged 18 or older. If they fail to meet each qualification, they will lose eligibility for the welfare card," he said.
Five new disqualified groups are intended to improve the scheme's targeting accuracy.
First, students are not considered part of the labour force.
