The first two days of budget debate resulted in 13 sections. ‘Natcha’ criticized the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security for allocating a budget that was missing out on people of all ages, and even the spirits did not receive money for funeral expenses. Meanwhile, the ‘Bhumjaithai Party MPs’ were concerned about the tourism budget being cut, which contradicted the use of tourism to stimulate the economy.
The House meeting considered the draft of the 2025 Fiscal Year Budget Act, 2nd reading. Mr. Wan Muhammad Noor Matha, the House Speaker, acted as the chairman of the meeting. He announced that the consideration of Section 14 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives would continue the debate on September 4 at 9:00 a.m. and ordered the meeting to be closed at 9:47 p.m.
Previously, in the consideration of Section 11, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, budget of 3,548,332,300 baht, Mr. Kitti Kittithorakul, MP for Krabi, Bhumjaithai Party, discussed that Thailand uses tourism to stimulate t
he economy. However, it appears that the budget that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports has received from 2021-2025 has been continuously reduced, contrary to the tourism industry as the main industry. Although the country must receive additional budget to achieve its tourism goals, the budget has been reduced, contrary to the expected mission. Therefore, the goal of stimulating the economy cannot be achieved.
The reporter reported that after the MPs had discussed it completely, the meeting voted to approve Article 11 according to the majority of the committee with 282 votes to 150, with 2 abstentions.
As for the consideration of Section 12, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, Mr. Natcha Boonchaiinsawat, MP for Bangkok, Prachachon Party, discussed that for the welfare budget classified by age group that the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security oversees in 2024, all age groups are missing. When looking at the budget by department in 2025, there is almost no difference. Today,
Thailand invests only 0.25% of GDP in children. If we cut out 0.07% of the money for children from birth to six years old, the investment in children is only 0.18% of GDP. We invest very little in children, while the money for the elderly is not enough. Mr. Phumtham Wechayachai, Deputy Prime Minister, has set up a committee and has already resolved to increase the money for the elderly aged 60 years and over to 1,000 baht. However, in the various expenditure budgets, it does not appear in the local administrative organization budget or the subsidy budget for the Department of Older Persons Affairs, another missing part. It is a sad story and a guarantee that welfare has been missed from birth to death, namely 3,000 baht for funeral expenses. This year, a budget of 461.7 million baht has been approved, which can pay for the bodies of more than 157,000 people. And there are still 138,000 souls who have not received money, using another 416 million baht. This means that we are approving the budget for the wrong
person, the wrong point.
Mr. Natcha further discussed that in terms of the budget that is missing in every age group, because about 900,000 children are missing since birth, another 1 million school-age children are missing, and they drop out of education. The elderly are not missing in quantity but in quality. When they reach the corpse, they are still missing since last year until this year. Next year, it is expected to continue like this. What should we do with the budget management of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security that is not on point? Therefore, we must ask to cut the budget of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
The meeting then resolved to approve the resolution of the committee with a majority vote of 288 to 147, with 1 abstention and 2 not voting.
For Section 13 of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, the MPs discussed extensively, mostly from the Prachachon Party (P.P.C.) because they saw that the budget was used inefficien
tly, there was no response to teaching in universities, including the development of a platform for teaching science, technology and innovation that responded to the level of ability, and some projects were duplicated, causing the budget to not be spent worthwhile. The meeting voted in agreement with the majority of the committee with 279 votes, 147 votes against, 2 abstentions and 1 vote not cast.
Source: Thai News Agency