Two more of Thailand’s state-owned banks, the Government Savings Bank (GSB) and the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), will join the Krung Thai Bank (KTB) in providing registration services for people who do not have a smart phone to apply for the 7,000 baht per head subsidy, under the Rao Chana scheme, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisit said during the censure debate in parliament on Wednesday.
He said that the two banks will start providing the service next Monday and the applicants, most of whom are low-income earners, can get help from bank officials, who will record their ID card numbers, adding that, after their applications are confirmed, money will be wired into their Pao Tang accounts.
The 7,000 baht payment will be divided into six instalments, with the first 2,000 baht to be wired once their applications are confirmed, to be followed by five instalments of 1,000 baht on February 25th, March 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th.
Mr. Arkhom apologized for inconvenience experienced by the many people who flocked to the Krung Thai Bank to subscribe, overwhelming the capacity of the branches.
In order to ease congestion at KTB bank branches, he said the Finance Ministry has decided to extend the deadline for registration until March 25th and add two more state-owned banks to help in the registration process.
The GSB and the BAAC cannot, however, directly register on behalf of the applicants because they are not equipped with the devices available at the KTB, but they will pass on the personal information of the applicants, such as their ID card numbers, to the KTB to complete the registration, said the minister.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the Pao Tang app system collapsed this morning, as many people logged in to complete their confirmation, in order to receive their first instalment of 2,000 baht.
One applicant tweeted that he could not make complete his confirmation with his smart phone but received a message informing him that the system was temporarily suspended because too many people had tried to log in at the same time.
