การดำเนินงานโครงการบัตรสวัสดิการแห่งรัฐในพื้นที่ตำบล แม่ฮ้อยเงิน อำเภอดอยสะเก็ด จังหวัดเชียงใหม่

Abstract

This study under the topic "Operation of the Thai government's welfare smart card scheme in Mae Hoi Ngoen Sub-District, Doi Saket District, Chiang Mai Province” aims to (1) study terms and conditions of the use of government's welfare smart cards during the year 2016-2019, starting from July 1, 2016, to July 31, 2019, (2) to evaluate the satisfaction of people reflecting the overall operation of the government scheme in terms of usage and benefit, (3) to study the problems and obstacles encountered from the use of the welfare smart cards as well as some various suggestions. In this study, I utilized two types of data collection tools including: (1) questionnaires distributed to 385 people using the government’s welfare card in the Mae Hoi Ngoen area, Doi Saket District, Chiang Mai Province to evaluate their satisfaction, (2) interview conducted with 3 groups of the involved people (1) shop owners participating in the scheme (2) community leaders who play a significant role in the target areas (3) government agencies with an important role in the process of registering people having low income in the target areas. The study found that during the year 2016-2019 from July 1, 2016, to July 31, 2019, the government had provided 3 rounds of the register for low-income citizens to receive the government’s welfare support. The first round of registration was available from July 15, 2016, to August 15, 2016, the second round from April 3 to May 15, 2017, and the third round from July 12 – 31, 2018, respectively. The evaluation results of the overall operation of the use of the government welfare cards given to the Thais during the year 2016-2019 (from July 1, 2016 - July 31, 2019) indicated that the top 3 having highest satisfaction score included “the measures to financially support the Thais in 2019” with the highest level of satisfaction of 4.71, followed by “the continuation of the project” with an average satisfaction score of 4.53 And the last one is “the measures to financially support the Thais in 2018” with an average score of 4.50 As for my suggestions, (1) the government should survey the basic data of each area and adjust forms of the measures to suit the economic, social, and environmental conditions of each province in order to enable the welfare smart-card holders in remote areas to have the right to equally use them. (2)Flexibility in terms of using the card should be taken into account, for example, the remaining balance could be accumulated to be used the following month, or in case there is an unused amount of balance, it can turn into cash or increase the limit for purchase of products. (3) The personal database of low-income citizens should be updated and registered into the system every year or two. Moreover, the following issues should be implemented, (1) provision of a field survey in each area to recheck the accuracy of the information prior to the card approval, (2) consideration of household income and assets to be considered for giving the cards, (3) as well as the monitoring of current information of cardholders to adjust the personal database of low-income citizens to be accurate and reliable, namely, there might be some groups of people whose income exceeding the specified conditions or who may change the condition to be disabled or even the death case during the year.