Phase III of cash handout scheme postponed indefinitely

Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira officially announced today that phase three of the cash handout scheme has been postponed indefinitely, but he promised that the government will revive the scheme “when the situation is right.”

The indefinite postponement is not a surprise, as the government has kept postponing the third phase due to financial constraints, particularly in light of the prospect that Thai exports to the US market may face reciprocal tariffs of up 36%. This would affect many

Thai businesses, SMEs in particular, which will be seeking financial support from the government.

Under the third phase of the scheme, about 2.7 million Thais, aged from 16 to 60, would have received 10,000 baht in financial support.

Pichai said that the economic stimulation board, which met today, agreed to review budgets, totalling an estimated 157 billion baht for projects under the Central Fund, and to focus on projects related to water management, public transport and improvements of public toilets, to promote tourism, and projects to promote education.

In the meantime, he said the government will call on financial institutions to increase the issuance of soft loans, with low interest rates, to help SMEs to survive economic difficulties and to keep the GDP growth projection from falling below 1%.

The deputy prime minister also said that the government will use parliamentary mechanisms to review spending cuts for the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years and focus on the production sector, logistics improvements and water management.