The government hailed the overwhelming first-day response to its new 'Thais Help Thais Plus' co-payment subsidy scheme, with more than 23 million people registering within hours.
Authorities said system traffic peaked at a record 700,000 users per second as the programme opened for registration nationwide.
The programme, officially known as "Thais Help Thais Plus 60/40", opened for registration at 6am on Monday through the government's "Pao Tang" mobile application.
Despite brief delays caused by a surge in simultaneous users, authorities said the system remained stable and recovered quickly after an initial slowdown.
Lavaron Sangsnit, permanent secretary for finance, said public enthusiasm had exceeded expectations, with 10 million people registering within the first 30 minutes alone.
"By 2pm, registrations had climbed to approximately 23.2 million, leaving around 7 million remaining entitlements under the programme's 30 million-person cap," he said.
Mr Lavaron said the system had initially been designed to support 300,000 users per second, but capacity was expanded to accommodate up to 700,000 transactions per second as demand surged.
He praised the public response, noting that some people had stayed awake all night for fear of missing out on registration.
"There's no cause for alarm -- registrations will remain open until all 30 million entitlements are filled," he assured.
Applicants whose status currently showed "pending verification" would still retain their reserved entitlement while authorities completed eligibility checks, which could take up to three days.
If applicants do not meet the eligibility criteria, the entitlement will later be reallocated and reopened for registration, Mr Lavaron said.
Under the scheme, the government will subsidise 60% of eligible spending, capped at B1,000 per month, while participants contribute the remaining 40% themselves.
To access the full monthly spending allowance, users must add B667 of their own funds each month. Benefits must be used within the same month and cannot be rolled over.
The programme is scheduled to run for four months from June 1, allowing participants to spend up to B6,667 in total while contributing B2,667 themselves.
The Finance Ministry said the initiative was intended primarily to ease living costs amid persistently high inflation and energy prices.
For holders of state welfare cards, separate measures will apply. Monthly welfare support has been increased from B300 to B1,000 starting from June 1.
Authorities also urged businesses to confirm their participation in the scheme through the "Tung Ngern" merchant application.
Total participation in the programme is expected to exceed one million outlets shortly.
