More than 8.7 million people nationwide benefitted from using the Thai Chuay Thai Plus (Thais Help Thais) co-payment app on Monday, the scheme's first day, generating over 2 billion baht in economic activity, according to the Finance Ministry.
The ministry said 26,040,623 people had enrolled in the scheme as of 11pm on June 1. Most were in the 20 to 50 age bracket, the country's core working population.
Of those, 8,724,402 had used the app on Monday, the first day of the scheme under which the government meets 60% of the price of eligible purchases and the consumer 40%.
State support is capped at 200 baht per day, allowing participants a total daily spending capacity of 333.33 baht, with monthly government assistance limited to 1,000 baht per person.
According to the ministry, spending under the scheme has been distributed in line with its co-payment structure. Cumulative expenditure reached 2.03 billion baht, all of which was spent through participating retail outlets.
The ministry said participating merchants connected through the government’s Tung Ngern app were actively gearing up to meet the rising consumer demand. A total of 896,110 shops had completed registration and accepted the programme's terms and conditions , making them ready to serve customers. The figure comprises 820,436 existing shops and 75,674 newly registered businesses.
The ministry said 159,570 vendors and shops are awaiting acceptance of the programme's terms and conditions, while 3,598 newly registered shops remain under review. So far, 659,658 merchants have successfully recorded sales through the system.
Purchases made via food delivery platforms have not yet been included. The food and goods ordering system is scheduled for launched on June 15.
Of the total spending, 1.18 billion baht was contributed by the government under the subsidy programme, while consumers paid the remaining 855.64 million baht.
