The third round of registration for the government’s half-half co-payment stimulus programme ended in record time, with around 700,000 people exercising their rights in just one hour.
The registration opened at www.คนละครึ่ง.com from 6am-11pm, but the registration was closed in just one hour as 722,598 took advantage of the offer, said Anucha Buranachaisri, government spokesman.
The government subsidy conditions stipulate that spending by registrants must be made within 14 days from the first day of registration.
The third round of registration opened after registrants did not use their subsidy rights within the stipulated period.
As of Thursday, the co-payment scheme generated consumer spending of 18.79 billion baht. More than 717,000 small merchants have participated in the scheme and 8.77 million people have registered for the subsidies, said Mr Anucha.
The five top provinces for spending were Bangkok, Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani and Chiang Mai.
The co-payment programme allows registered individuals who make purchases at small shops to pay only half the prices, with the government subsidising the rest.
The government pays 50% of food, drink and general goods purchases up to 150 baht per person per day, with the total subsidy capped at 3,000 baht per person for the duration of the programme.