By Thai Newsroom Reporters
FORMER SENATOR KAEWSAN Atibodhi said today (Apr.12) the Pheu Thai campaign-pledged 10,000-baht digital wallet for all adolescents and adults might merely be deemed as a post-election payoff.
Kaewsan said the Pheu Thai digital wallet promised for each of all Thais aged 16 years and over to spend a maximum of 10,000 baht in six months could possibly be considered by the Election Commission as a sheer kickback in exchange for a landslide victory in the May 14 general election for the party of which deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is largely viewed as de facto boss.
The digital wallet which will be purportedly provided for use to buy goods and services but no alcoholic beverages or cigarettes and cannot be transferred into cash might probably fail to serve the Pheu Thai goal of stimulating the local or community-based economy nationwide, according to the former senator.
The campaign-pledged novel payment system will only be used in a radius of four kilometres from the census-registered home of the recipient.
“The sales of fresh fish and vegetables at markets in rural areas everywhere are practically not subject to the value-added tax and have no records of trading for which the digital wallet would otherwise be of use.
“For the most part, the electronic money from such a digital wallet could probably overflow 7/11s in all the provinces,” Kaewsan said.
The former senator said such a Pheu Thai campaign could probably be viewed as an “honest, yet stupid” populist policy.
The Election Commission has recently called on the Pheu Thai to promptly submit more details of their campaign-pledged digital wallet so that the polling agency could determine whether it might possibly violate the election law.
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Top and Front Page: Former senator Kaewsan Atibodhi. Photos: Thai Rath
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