Following the launch of the THAIme website by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) on June 8, 2020, aimed at monitoring the management of the 1 trillion baht loan from the public, particularly the 400 billion baht designated for the recovery of Thailand's economy after COVID-19, various government agencies submitted a staggering 34,263 projects within just one week from June 5 to June 12, 2020. These projects amounted to over 841,269 million baht, more than double the allocated budget of 400 billion baht.

The loan projects are divided into four main plans: Plan 1 focuses on investments and development activities that can revitalize economic activities; Plan 2 aims at the recovery of grassroots and community economies, emphasizing job creation to support the return to rural areas; Plan 3 promotes consumption and stimulates the economy; and Plan 4 enhances community-level infrastructure.

In the next steps, agencies proposing projects must input data into the National Monitoring and Evaluation System (eMENSCR). Once the projects pass the initial screening, they will undergo further evaluation by subcommittees, the screening committee, and the Cabinet. The first round of approvals is expected in early July.

However, the THAIme website does not facilitate effective analysis or scrutiny, as it presents projects one page at a time, with 20 projects per page. This means that to review all projects, citizens would need to click through 1,714 times, making it impossible to get an overview of which projects belong to which provinces or agencies.

Thai Publica conducted a survey and extracted data from the website to summarize the actual appearance of these project proposals and identify key points of interest. The extracted data includes only the plan, project name, budget amount, budget recipient, ministry, and province, while detailed information still requires viewing each project individually. Nevertheless, this is sufficient to gain some insights.

Main Proponent: “Interior Ministry” Focuses on Construction – Proposes 230 Billion Baht

The agency requesting the largest budget is the Ministry of Interior, proposing 234,981.21 million baht across 30,807 projects, averaging 7.6 million baht per project, indicating that most are likely small-scale projects. When categorized by the four plans, nearly all projects relate to the recovery of grassroots and community economies, focusing on job creation for rural returnees (Plan 3.2), making it the main proponent of this plan, as it accounts for about half of the total budget for this initiative.

Upon examining the details of the projects, most are construction-related, such as road construction (in various forms), digging ponds, canals, developing water sources for agriculture, and constructing underground water refill points. The largest project is the “Job Creation and Income Generation: Strong Villages/Communities Against COVID-19” with a budget of 24,092.4 million baht, followed by the “Model Area Development for Quality of Life Improvement Based on New Theory Applied to ‘Khok Nong Na Model’” with a budget of nearly 6,000 million baht across two projects. The smallest projects involve creating various signs with budgets in the tens of thousands.

“Prime Minister’s Office and Agriculture Ministry” Focus on Investment – Proposes 350 Billion Baht

The second-highest budget proposal comes from the Prime Minister’s Office, requesting 196,326.93 million baht for only 50 projects, averaging 3,926.5 million baht per project. However, one project alone requests 100,000 million baht, which skews the average of the remaining projects to just 1,965 million baht each.

In contrast to the Ministry of Interior, the Prime Minister’s Office’s project plans primarily focus on investments and development activities that can revitalize economic activities in the long term (Plan 3.1), making it the main proponent of this plan, accounting for 66.7% of the total budget for this initiative.

The project with the highest budget is the initiative to revive NPL SMEs, requesting 100,000 million baht, followed by the project to restore the operational capacity of SMEs unable to access funding, with a budget of 50,000 million baht, the “Thai Tourism to EEC” project with a budget of 26,202 million baht, and the project to delay unemployment in the industrial sector with a budget of 7,800 million baht.

Other notable projects include the “One District, One Product” initiative to revive local economies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a budget of 5,218.37 million baht, and infrastructure projects to enhance economic potential at 2,255.12 million baht.

When combining the budgets of these six projects under Plan 3.1, they total 191,475 million baht, or about 97% of the budget proposed by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Lastly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives proposed a budget of 162,408.9 million baht across 742 projects, averaging 218.9 million baht per project, distributed across all three plans. In Plan 3.1, it requested 59,636.38 million baht for 49 projects (averaging 1,217 million baht per project), in Plan 3.2, it requested 42,526.29 million baht for 676 projects (averaging 62.9 million baht), and in Plan 3.4, focusing on enhancing community-level infrastructure, it proposed 60,246.27 million baht for 17 projects (averaging 3,543.9 million baht).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is the main proponent of Plan 3.4, as its proposed budget accounts for about 70% of the total budget for this plan. The project requesting the highest budget is the “Water Source Development, Water Management, and Expansion of Irrigated Areas” with a budget of 42,236 million baht.

Other significant projects include the modernization of large farms and market linkage at 20,400 million baht, the “One Village, One Learning Center” project based on the New Theory of Agriculture at 19,387 million baht, the “One District, One New Theory Agricultural Group” project at 14,315 million baht, the development of water sources for agriculture exceeding 2 million cubic meters at 13,423 million baht, and the production of quality seeds and production factors (seeds, seedlings, tissue culture, livestock breeds, aquatic animal breeds, quality eggs) at 12,045 million baht.

When combining the budgets of these six projects, they total 121,808 million baht, or about 75% of the budget proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Nationwide Budget Requests: 126 Projects Worth 430 Billion Baht

In terms of which provinces or areas requested the most budget, there are 126 projects identified as nationwide or for all provinces, totaling 430,499.17 million baht, which is half of the proposed budget. Additionally, there is a budget request of 36,257.25 million baht for three projects in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). The top five provinces with the highest budget requests are:

  1. Kalasin: 9,542.22 million baht for 2,070 projects
  2. Nakhon Si Thammarat: 9,235.51 million baht for 53 projects
  3. Sakon Nakhon: 7,965.32 million baht for 1,127 projects
  4. Chiang Rai: 7,888.27 million baht for 79 projects
  5. Khon Kaen: 7,089.43 million baht for 32 projects

However, due to discrepancies in the data submitted by each agency, it remains challenging to evaluate accurately, as some projects are vaguely defined, such as those mentioning ten provinces or projects indicating national forest reserves covering 9,000 villages and surrounding communities across all regions. Therefore, detailed project-by-project verification may be necessary.

Many Projects Raise Questions About Economic Recovery

The projects identified as nationwide are often among the highest budget requests and are the same ones proposed by one of the three agencies mentioned above. Upon reviewing the details of these projects, many questions arise.

For example, the project to revive NPL SMEs with a budget of 100,000 million baht from the Prime Minister’s Office states in its documentation that the project will last for seven years, starting from August 2020, targeting only 110,000 entrepreneurs, and aims to provide loans for investment and research to enhance businesses. This raises concerns about potential overlap with previous loan programs.

Similarly, the “Sufficiency Economy Creating Thailand” project with a budget of 55,000 million baht appears to be primarily a loan program, exceeding the requested budget significantly, lacking details on implementation, and raises questions about possible duplication with earlier projects such as the Sufficiency Living Loan totaling 10,000 million baht, New Gen HUG Home Loan totaling 60,000 million baht, Community Business Creation Loan totaling 30,000 million baht, Community Business Creation Loan totaling 20,000 million baht, and Agricultural Entrepreneur Loan totaling 40,000 million baht.

The “Thai Tourism to EEC” project with a budget of 26,202 million baht from the Prime Minister’s Office has nearly 114 pages of supporting documents, prepared in just a few weeks, suggesting it was already part of a regular operational plan but is now seeking budget approval. This raises the question of whether all funding should be allocated to just three provinces.

In addition to the overview of these large projects, another point to monitor is the viability of the many smaller projects, whether they are truly beneficial for the recovery of Thailand's economy post-COVID-19, or merely rehashing old projects. For instance, road construction projects should typically be part of regular budgets, and projects like the “Volunteer Economy: Natural Way: Temple Visits on Saturdays” with a budget of 8 million baht from the Prime Minister’s Office raises questions about its economic recovery impact.

It is also noteworthy that no agency proposed projects under Plan 3, which promotes consumption and stimulates the economy.