Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Monday expressed scepticism over the findings from a recent opinion poll indicating that most people would not be upset if the 10,000-baht handout scheme was scrapped.
He questioned whether the survey carried out by Nida Poll represented the entire population and insisted that people he met during his provincial visits had no objection to the handout.
According to the survey released on Sunday, 68.85% of respondents said they would not be upset if the digital wallet was cancelled, compared with 9.39% who said they would be very angry. Less certain were the 12.37% of poll participants who said they would be quite upset, 8.85% who would not be so upset and the remaining 0.54% who were not interested.
In the same survey, titled "Economic Crisis and the Digital Wallet Rollout", conducted on Jan 22-24 on 1,310 participants aged 18 and over, about 34.66% believed the digital wallet policy should be cancelled, against 33.66% who said it should continue as initially planned for this current year.
In addition, 18.55% said the scheme should focus on economically vulnerable groups, while 5.88% said it should be postponed until 2025. Another 4.58% said it should be postponed to 2025 and prioritise those in need. The remaining 2.67% were not interested in the issue.
In response to the findings, Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the government would listen to all opinions about the digital wallet policy, including the results of surveys.
However, he stressed that the scheme is part of the government's policy statement announced before parliament, so the government should implement it as promised to the people, even if it appears to be hanging in the balance following criticism over the loans needed to finance the handout.
Asked about his social media post saying the country might face a crisis similar to 1997, he said economists are divided over the economy, and the government is exploring ways to address the situation.
