Bangkok: People’s Party Members of Parliament have raised concerns over the government’s budget allocation strategy for drought relief, criticizing its concentration in areas represented by coalition party MPs. Mr. Itthiphon Choltharasiri, an MP for Khon Kaen from the Prachachon Party, argued that the current budget allocations cannot effectively address the chronic issues of water management.

According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Itthiphon highlighted that despite the annual allocation of 100 billion baht, water management problems persist. In 2016, the National Water Resources Office (NWRC) requested 439,431 million baht, but only a third of the projects received funding, raising questions about the alignment of plans and budgets. He suggested that if the budget is insufficient, there should be an increase in annual budget requests or the use of a central budget, rather than relying on the normal budget. Recently, a central budget of 100 billion baht was proposed to develop over 20,000 water sources nationwide, with a tight deadline of three days for project proposals. Concerns have been raised about whether this initiative will stimulate the economy for the general public or serve other interests.

Mr. Itthiphon criticized the central budget for 2024-2025, stating that it was not reasonably allocated. For instance, in 2025, only three provinces-Buriram, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Kanchanaburi-were declared drought-stricken, yet they did not receive urgent budget allocations. A study by the National Security Council identified 333 districts at risk of water shortages, but only 160 received funding. Conversely, 271 districts not at risk received budget allocations.

Further scrutiny revealed that budget distribution favored government coalition MPs’ constituencies. Of 2,748 total projects, Pheu Thai Party MPs received 1,662 projects (60% of the total), with a budget of 3,688 million baht. The Bhumjaithai Party received 445 projects totaling 940 million baht, and the Kla Tham Party had 157 projects worth 343 million baht, accounting for 94% of all projects. Mr. Itthiphon questioned why budget distribution was concentrated in these areas.

Moreover, Mr. Itthiphon noted that many projects were designed to avoid the bidding process, with 1,907 projects (69% of the total budget) valued at not more than 500,000 baht each. Common projects included dredging and drilling artesian wells, often seen as mere repetitions of past projects.

Mr. Itthiphon argued that the artesian well drilling project should be part of the regular budget, not the central budget. He questioned if the drought relief budget is genuinely used to address drought issues or if it serves to distribute income to government-supporting groups. The government faces scrutiny over why the central drought relief budget is allocated to areas not at risk, coinciding with government MPs’ constituencies. Speculations abound regarding the drought budget being a government MP quota fund.