On May 30, MP Sirikanya Tansakun from the People’s Party expressed concern on Facebook about the government's rapid push for a 157-billion-baht economic stimulus package, warning it could lead to inefficient spending.
She highlighted that a significant portion of the stimulus—specifically drug-related budget allocations—appeared to follow suggestions previously made by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. One such project involves a 5.18-billion-baht plan by the Ministry of Interior's Office of the Permanent Secretary to establish drug rehabilitation centers in all 878 districts, included under the infrastructure investment component of the stimulus.
Sirikanya reiterated that while drug problems are serious, it’s questionable to include anti-drug initiatives in what is marketed as an economic stimulus. She questioned whether the government had run out of actual economic ideas, suggesting that drug rehabilitation projects serve a different policy goal.
She disclosed that the Interior Ministry submitted over 20,000 project proposals totaling approximately 79.96 billion baht—half of the total stimulus. Of that, about 40.5 billion is for central and provincial government projects, while 39.4 billion is for local administrative organizations (LAOs), but control remains largely centralized with the Interior Ministry.
Notably, 10,555 of those projects are for "clean drinking water vending machines" proposed mostly by subdistrict administrative organizations (SAOs), costing 2.737 billion baht in total—around 259,365 baht per machine. Sirikanya questioned whether SAOs actually requested these machines or if the Interior Ministry had imposed them to align with the Bhumjaithai Party’s drinking water agenda.
She also flagged bizarre projects like an AI-based traffic control system proposed by the provincial energy office in Chiang Rai, valued at 200 million baht—a task clearly outside its jurisdiction. She urged the public to review the project list themselves, though she lamented the lack of detailed local project files.
Sirikanya posted a document showing the nationwide drug rehab project as evidence of her claims, raising doubts about both the planning integrity and true intent of the stimulus initiative.