Key existing schemes/programs
1. ‘UCS(Universal Coverage Scheme)’ which from 2002 started to provide universal health care for all the remaining Thai people. A related table is attached.
2.'Universal tax-financed 500 baht' which was transformed from means-tested to universal scheme right after the financial crisis of 2008. A related table is attached.
3. Other poverty alleviation projects like ‘Micro/Agricultural credit(Village Fund)’, ‘One Tambon-One Product(OTOP)’, ‘Community Capacity Building (known as SML: small, medium and large community)’ and ‘Housing credit’. A related table is attached.
4. In response to the 2008 financial crisis, the Thai government initiated several short-time projects to cushion its negative impacts on the poor. The primary project is ‘The Tonkla-Archeep project’ in which more than 200,000 unemployed were to be trained and 140,000 people were to get jobs and the layoffs of 200,000 people were to be postponed. ‘The measure of 3 decrease, 3 expansion’ is another project which aimed to decrease the incidence of layoffs, the labor detraction, the living expenditure of employees and unemployed people, and to increase the employment rate, career choices and skill improvement training. ‘The national cheque project’ is another short-term project which allocated 2,000 baht each to 9 million people who maintained a monthly income no more than 15,000 baht. Last, but not least project of ‘Universal 15-year free education’(details of which will be provided soon) has been put in place since the financial crisis.