The cabinet met on September 17, 2024.
Title: Authorization of Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister to approve, give consent, or issue an order on behalf of the Cabinet regarding a draft royal decree that must be carried out in accordance with the Constitution (in relation to the Parliament, the House of Representatives or the Senate), which has limited period of effectiveness according to Section 7 of the Royal Decree on Proposals and Cabinet Meetings B.E. 2548
The cabinet approved the compliance with cabinet resolution (dated 28 January 2020), which assigned the Prime Minister to approve, give consent or issue orders on behalf of the cabinet regarding a draft royal decree that must be carried out in accordance with the Constitution (in relation to the Parliament, the House of Representatives or the Senate), which has limited period of effectiveness according to Section 7 of the Royal Decree on Proposals and Cabinet Meetings B.E. 2548. This is as proposed by the Cabinet Secretariat.
Draft royal decrees with regard to the Parliament, House of Representatives, or the Senate, e.g., royal decree on convocation of extraordinary session of the Parliament, royal decree on election of members of the House of Representatives, royal decree on dissolution of House of Representatives, etc., are more likely to take effect for limited period of time and have clear-cut procedure and guideline. The cabinet, therefore, assigned the Prime Minister to approve, give consent, or issue an order on behalf of the Cabinet in such matters to streamline the process.
The cabinet approved in principle the draft Royal Decree Issued under the Revenue Code on Reduction of Value-Added Tax (No?), B.E. ? (Extension of Value-Added Tax (VAT) Reduction) as proposed by Ministry of Finance.
The draft Royal Decree Issued under the Revenue Code on Reduction of Value-Added Tax (No?), B.E. ? (Extension of Value-Added Tax (VAT) Reduction) prescribes extension to the reduced VAT rate for another year from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. The reduced VAT rate is 6.3% (excluding local tax) and 7% (including local tax).
The cabinet approved the allocation of Government?s central fund for contingency and emergency (FY2024) at the total amount of 624.80 million Baht for the implementation of health service system improvement and development projects for agencies under Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health.
According to Ministry of Public Health?s report, agencies under the ministry nationwide still lack essential medical equipment. As these agencies are not able to adjust their operating plan and annual budget expenditure plan for 2024, the allocation of Government?s central fund for contingency and emergency (FY2024) is requested for the procurement of medical equipment, such as, 672 portable telemedicine health screening kits (@50,000 baht per set); 102 wireless handheld ultrasound and telemedicine systems (350,000 baht per set); 161 automatic resuscitator (1 million baht per set); and 48 portable volume & pressure-control ventilators (450,000 baht per set).
The cabinet approved the allocation of Government?s central fund for contingency and emergency (FY2024) at the total amount of 5,924.31 million Baht for the implementation of ?30-Baht Get Treatment Anywhere? project to allow Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) beneficiaries to request health services in any health unit registered under the UC scheme.
National Health Security has launched the ?30-Baht Get Treatment Anywhere? project on January 7, 2024 in 4 provinces (Phrae, Roi-Et, Phetchaburi, and Narathiwat), and now the service is expanded to cover 46 provinces in total.
Under the project, 43,560,944 UCS beneficiaries can receive health services in any health unit registered under the UC scheme, including pharmacies, nursing clinics, dental clinics, physiotherapy clinics, medical clinics, medical technical clinics, and traditional Thai medicine clinics. To get the services, they only need to show their identification card at the chosen health facility.
The cabinet approved the allocation of Government?s central fund for contingency and emergency (FY2024) at the total amount of ot over 23,552.40 million Baht for the implementation of economic stimulus measure (the Digital Wallet scheme), as proposed by Ministry of Finance.
With the ongoing problem of household debts and staggering economy, there is an urgent need for the implementation of economic stimulus measures. The cabinet has, therefore, approved the allocation of budget to implement the economic stimulus measure (the Digital Wallet scheme) which will be handed out to 14,555,240 people (12.4 million state welfare card holders and people in the vulnerable groups, and 2,149,286 disabled ID card holders) at the amount of 10,000 Baht/person. The payment will be transferred to the recipients via their PromptPay accounts on September 25, 26, 27, and 30 (4 days). Detail is as follows:
September 25, 2024: Persons with disabilities (2.1 million people) and state welfare card holders with the ID number ending with 0
September 26, 2024: State welfare card holders with the ID number ending with 1, 2, and 3
September 27, 2024: State welfare card holders with the ID number ending with 4, 5, 6, and 7
September 30, 2024: State welfare card holders with the ID number ending with 8 and 9
Those who are eligible may proceed with linking PromptPay with their national ID card numbers. If the scheduled transfer is not successful or their names are missed out, the money will be retransferred on October 22, November 22, and December 22. The transfer will be made for another 3 times for people who have yet received the subsidy even after 3 additional tries.
The cabinet approved the following proposal of Ministry of Commerce:
1. Approved 4 draft outcome economic documents to be adopted and/or approved at 56th ASEAN Economic Ministers' (AEM) Meeting and related meetings, 24th ASEAN Coordination Council Meeting, and 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related summits, which are, (1) Joint Declaration on Economic Cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA); (2) Joint Statement on the Substantial Conclusion of the ASEAN - China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) Upgrade Negotiations; (3) ASEAN Plus Three Leaders? Statement on Strengthening the Connectivity of Regional Supply Chains; and (4) ASEAN Leaders? Declaration on Enhancing Supply Chain Connectivity.
2. Approved for Minister of Commerce or a representative to adopt document (1) in his capacity as ASEAN economic minister
3. Approved for Minister of Commerce or a representative to adopt documents (2) and (3) in his capacity as ASEAN economic minister before submitting the documents to the Prime Minister or a representative later to adopt the draft outcome documents in her capacity as ASEAN Leader
4. Approved for Minister of Commerce or a representative to adopt document (4) in his capacity as ASEAN economic minister before submitting to ASEAN Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs and the Prime Minister or a representative, respectively, to adopte the document
The 56th ASEAN Economic Ministers' (AEM) Meeting and related meetings will be held on September 15-22, 2024; 24th ASEAN Coordination Council Meeting will be held on October 6-7, 2024; and 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related summits will be held during October 9-11, 2024.
Source: Cabinet Meeting (Paetongtarn Shinawatra) September 17, 2024