SINGBURI, THAILAND – The Krungthai Bank branch in Singburi opened on 18 October 2025 at 8:30 a.m. on a weekend to provide a special registration service for the government’s Khon La Khrueng Plus scheme.
Special weekend service
The branch manager, Chantana Thai-arporn, and her team ran the one-off weekend sessions to assist citizens and merchants with registrations limited to the “Pao Tang” mobile wallet and the merchant platform “Tung Ngern”. Only those two types of enrolment were accepted during the hours the bank was open.
“We opened to make sure everyone who is eligible can register,” Chantana said, explaining the decision to offer the service outside normal weekday hours. The drive aimed to help people who had struggled with online sign-up or who needed in-branch help to link accounts to the programme.
Early birds and technical headaches
Long lines formed early. Residents from the Bang Rachan district started arriving from about 5 a.m., and the first customer was already waiting by 6 a.m. Many people were held up by login failures or had lost access after changing phones.
“I want to be able to use my app again,” one waiting resident complained, as staff patiently worked through password resets and account recoveries. Bank employees spent the morning troubleshooting individual problems, but demand remained high throughout the day.
Small traders hope for a boost
A large share of attendees were small shop owners seeking merchant registration on “Tung Ngern”. Those without existing Krungthai accounts had to open one at the branch before finishing registration for the government initiative.
Merchants told reporters they hoped the measure would bring more customers and increase sales. For many households and small businesses, participation in the scheme was seen as welcome relief amid rising living costs.
Government push to lift domestic spending
The Khon La Khrueng Plus project, roughly translated as “We share the half”, is designed to stimulate domestic consumption while supporting traders across the country. To cope with the heavy public interest, the Singburi branch also remained open on Sunday, 19 October, so that officials could ensure everyone entitled to the benefits had an opportunity to register.
The account of the weekend service was reported by Khaosod.