Welfare card-holders can finally access the MRT Blue and Purple lines -- all they need to do is register for the service at any MRT station, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Friday.
But only around 10,000 out of 1.3 million eligible cards have gone through this process, he said at an opening ceremony for the new service.
"The cards can be registered until the end of September, but the process must be publicised better," he said. "It is likely that more people will register now that the cards can actually be used on the networks."
The registration period started on July 6, meaning card-holders could travel to any MRT station to scan their cards granting them access to the whole electric train network.
While over 11 million welfare cards were distributed countrywide last October to replace the government's free bus and train services welfare, only 1.3 million have been fitted with two chips that allow them to access the common ticketing system, also known as the "Mangmoom" (Spider) network.
Such cards were only given to welfare card-holders in Bangkok and its metropolitan provinces. They are Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, and Samut Sakhon.
The cards offer 1,500 baht per month, 500 baht for each of three forms of public transport.
The first sum is allotted for diesel-powered trains, while another 500 baht is for provincial buses and vans. The last tranche is for public buses and electric trains.
While unused sums cannot be accumulated, Mr Arkhom said fares can be deducted from the cards for a maximum of one month in advance, if the entire 500 baht is used up within a month.
The remaining cards, distributed in other provinces, have only one chip embedded in them. They will not be able to access the Mangmoom network.
Mr Arkhom said yesterday another round of welfare cards will be distributed in October, the Transport Ministry's deadline for Mangmoom and welfare cards to be usable on the Airport Rail Link and 2,600 public buses.
The ministry has reported delays in fixing card-readers on buses, moving the deadline from Oct 1 to the end of that month.
Meanwhile, Mr Arkhom said the new round of welfare cards would not need to be registered for any of these services, as they will already have been pre-registered.
There will also be no need to register existing welfare cards to access the Airport Link and buses, he added.