Thailand’s digital stimulus plan is a race to nowhere

Author: Wannaphong Durongkaveroj, Ramkhamhaeng University

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has promised 10,000 baht (US$275) to every Thai citizen over the age of 16, a form of stimulus designed to inject life into the economy after it was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recipients can use the one-off digital cash handout at local businesses within a four kilometre radius of the recipient’s registered address. The Srettha government projects that the scheme will boost cash flow to the economy by over 2 trillion Thai baht — four times the cost of the policy.

Like many countries, the Thai economy was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its GDP fell by 6.1 per cent in 2020, the largest contraction since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. The number of people living in poverty has risen by almost half a million and economic forecasts appear grim.

But it is still unclear whether…