Leading opposition MPs have expressed their disappointment in the government’s FY2024 budget, claiming that the financial allocations do not reflect the government’s policies and the bulk of the budget is allocated to the fixed expenditures of the various ministries, with little left over for the public benefit.

Thai Sang Thai party leader Sudarat Keyuraphan said in her Facebook post today that she feels hopeless for the country’s future, as well as regret over the waste of taxpayers’ money and the way the government is allocating its 3.48 trillion baht budget for the 2024 fiscal year.

Despite the fact that there are is little to no difference between the government’s budget and that of the previous Prayut administration, she said that this government’s budget for defence and the Central Fund, which is directly within the discretion of the prime minister, has increased.

There is an investment budget of 717 billion baht, or 20.6% of the entire expenditure budget, but there is no money to address poverty and equality issues, as promised by the Pheu Thai party during the election campaign, said Khunying Sudarat.

She also said that the budgetary allocation fails to address other key areas, such as the improvement of opportunities for farmers to generate more income, human resource development, improvement of Thailand’s competitiveness and development of new technologies, among others.

Move Forward party leader Chaithawat Tulathon said today that he has noticed the discrepancy between the government’s budget and its policies, as presented by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin in August.

He noted that the government’s revenue assessment is inflated and does not reflect reality, in the same manner as the previous administration, resulting in its successor bearing the burden of raising more revenue to reduce the deficit.

He admitted that he does not see any future for Thailand in the government’s budget.