The “Pao Tang” application system crashed this morning (Friday) as subscribers scrambled to reconfirm their registrations for the fifth phase of the 50:50 co-payment scheme, under which each will receive 800 baht to spend on goods and services from September 1st until October 31st.

A login attempt at 6am, when the system was scheduled to start receiving applications, did not work. A notice, which read “Sorry, the system does not work now. Please try again” popped up.

By 11am, many users had reported that they could access the app again, while others said only the web version worked for them.

As of 12pm, new registrations for the 50:50 co-payment scheme were, however, fully subscribed. Those who have previously registered for the scheme can now verify their subscriptions through the “Pao Tang” app.

The crash in the first hour of opening has annoyed many existing and new subscribers, who flooded social media with comments, top trending the issue on Thai Twitter this morning.

The state-run Krung Thai Bank, which is responsible for the system, later issued a brief online statement admitting that the system was overwhelmed and that the problem is now being fixed and it expects to resume operations “within an hour”.

According to the Fiscal Policy Office at the Finance Ministry, about 26.5 million Thais will be eligible to receive the subsidies under the fifth phase of the scheme, including 26.2 million subscribers from the fourth phase.

About 230,000 subscribers to phase four have not spent any of the subsidy.

Applications for both existing and new subscribers will remain open until the target number of 26.5 million is reached.

The co-payment scheme has been proven very popular among consumers, vendors and small-scale retailers. It helps increase the purchasing power of low and middle-income consumers and, as a result of the spending, helps boost the economy.