The Finance Ministry expects 10 million people to register for its latest relief effort through a new app.
As of Saturday, about 7 million people had registered with the government's Rao Chana ("We Win") economic relief app, Kulaya Tantitemit, the acting director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office, said.
"The rate of sign-ups will slow down now that most people appear to have done so early on. We expect 10 million to have registered using the app by the end of Feb 12, the last day for on-line registration," she said.
After on-line registration, an in-person process will commence on Feb 15 at designated state banks.
The government approved the 210-billion-baht "Rao Chana" (We Win) financial aid scheme on Jan 19. Under the scheme, the government provides 7,000 baht per person over two months to 31 million people affected by the pandemic.
The scheme does not cover social security subscribers, government officials or state enterprise employees.
Registration is scheduled for Jan 29-Feb 12 on เราชนะ.com. Two of the criteria used to screen applicants are their annual income and how much they have in their bank accounts.
Those who are approved won't be paid cash, however -- the scheme uses a model similar to the co-payment programme known as "Khon La Khrueng", in which the money is transferred via the "Pao Tang" app and used to buy food, drinks and essential items.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Poll yesterday showed most respondents wanted the government to provide economic relief to everyone and make registration easy to do.
The poll was conducted by Bangkok University Research Center. Polling researchers questioned 1,206 respondents nationwide during Jan 25-27 about their views on the scheme.
Some 72% respondents wanted the help extended to everyone and the registration process made easier.
Meanwhile, 49% said financial handouts from Rao Chana should cover electricity and water bills, while 38.5% wanted to see a longer registration period.
