The Finance Ministry, which is in charge of implementing the welfare scheme, has launched a probe into the male model. This has drawn public criticism as to why this man is eligible for a welfare card when he does not appear to be poor at all. But Finance Ministry spokesman Suwit Rojanawanich recently said an initial probe confirmed the man meets the criteria set for recipients of the scheme. The budget of the welfare card scheme is about 40 billion baht a year. Like it or not, the welfare card scheme is a populist policy.

Source: Bangkok Post October 31, 2017 21:33 UTC