The National Savings Fund (NSF), a voluntary pension fund for self-employed workers, has maintained its ambitious target of more than doubling its members to 1.2 million this year.
The fund aims to increase its members by 700,000 this year from 530,000 currently, said Jaruluck Ruengsuwan, the newly appointed secretary-general.
The NSF tried in vain to achieve 1 million members over the past two years, which is believed to have prompted Ms Jaruluck's predecessor Somporn Chitpenthom to resign.
Ms Jaruluck admitted it is a challenging target, saying the NSF will focus on educating people, particularly students aged 15 and older, about savings for retirement.
Students are the NSF's focus because this group represents a meagre 2% of total members, she said.
Over 19.4 million self-employed workers are not NSF members, while 30% of current members do not contribute additional savings to the fund.
The NSF, which was set up in August 2015, is a retirement safety net for self-employed workers not covered by a pension fund, social security or a provident fund.
People aged 15-60 are eligible to apply for membership.
Members are required to make a minimum contribution of 50 baht a month, up to a maximum of 13,200 baht a year, and the amount is matched fully or in part by the government up to a prescribed limit.
The government makes a matching contribution worth up to 50% of savings but not more than 600 baht a year for workers aged 15-30, up to 80% but not more than 960 baht a year for workers aged 31-50, and up to 100% but not more than 1,200 baht a year for those over 50.
In an attempt to draw more members, the NSF will propose the Finance Ministry raise the ceiling contribution for members to 30,000 baht a year from 13,200 baht, so they can live more comfortably in retirement life.
Moreover, the voluntary fund will allow potential members to check applicants' qualifications and its members to check their contributions in the fund through a mobile app starting from the second quarter this year.
As of Dec 29, 2017, the NSF's capital amounted to 4.22 billion baht, 24.4% of which was deposited in bank accounts, 38.7% was earmarked to invest in government bonds, 19.9% in rated company bonds, 10% in equity mutual funds, and the remainder in other financial instruments.
The NSF is permitted by law to allocate up to 20% of its capital in equity.
The fund offered a 4% return to its members last year, beating its target of 3% per year.