Digital divide leaves poor out of schemeA man tries to climb up a fence at the Finance Ministry out of frustration after he missed out on the government's 5,000-baht handout despite being eligible. The scheme is expected to inject about 90 billion baht into the economy, equivalent to a gross domestic product growth of 0.28%. Though Thailand has a high rate of social media penetration, there is a massive digital divide which prevents the most vulnerable in society from accessing the government's aid programmes. This digital divide means more tech-savvy, middle-class individuals -- who weren't as economically affected by the Covid-19 lockdown -- are more likely to grab the cash handouts. This is in stark contrast to the rich and affluent, who can easily access any government aid scheme and are likely to survive the pandemic more or less unscathed.

Source: Bangkok Post September 06, 2020 23:26 UTC