KALASIN, THAILAND – Thailand’s Pheu Thai Party promoted a daily millionaire lottery tied to digital tax reform and debt relief during a major campaign rally in the northeast.
Rally in Pheu Thai stronghold
At a large campaign event in Kuchinarai district in the northeastern province of Kalasin, party prime ministerial candidate Yodchanan Wongsawat on Saturday unveiled the “Nine New Millionaires a Day” policy at the Chao Pho Pu Buakhao shrine. The party said around 20,000 people attended the rally in Constituency 6, a long-time stronghold where it had won the 2023 seat by 22,000 votes over Move Forward.
How the millionaire scheme was designed
The core proposal envisaged a daily draw of nine cash prizes worth 1 million baht each. According to Yodchanan, four prizes would be reserved for farmers, senior citizens, volunteer public service workers and people who file income tax returns, while the remaining five would be drawn from receipts of consumer spending, explicitly including purchases from small vendors.
Based on party calculations, the scheme would create 3,240 new millionaires a year, and about 26,000 people could benefit if Pheu Thai stayed in government for two terms. The party framed the receipt-based draws as a way to pull the informal sector into a digital tax and transaction system.
Digital governance and fiscal assurances
Yodchanan stressed that the lottery was part of a broader digital government overhaul. The planned “Big Picture” digital policy would pool payment and transaction data to monitor prices and better target support for farmers, older people and other vulnerable groups.
He said budget limits and legal issues had been thoroughly examined and would be submitted to the Election Commission for review.
“The policy must not be misunderstood as a simple handout,”
said Yodchanan Wongsawat, prime ministerial candidate. He added that it had to be communicated as part of a large-scale digital restructuring of public administration.
Sharp criticism from opposition figures
Several political rivals questioned the proposal. Two leading Democrat Party politicians, Abhisit Vejjajiva and Korn Chatikavanij, described the plan as a wasteful use of taxpayers’ money that did not address the root causes of poverty.
Sirikanya Tansakun, deputy leader of the People’s Party, noted that the idea resembled her own concept of a receipt lottery. However, she criticised the cost-benefit ratio and spoke of more than 3 billion baht in annual spending for a relatively small group of beneficiaries.
“By my calculation, only about 2,000 people a year would benefit directly,”
said Sirikanya Tansakun, deputy party leader.
Party heavyweights and Thaksin family ties
In Kalasin, Yodchanan appeared alongside local candidate Chanawut Uttho and senior party figures Prasert Chanthararuangthong (secretary-general), Nattawut Saikua (deputy campaign director), Sutin Klungsang (party-list candidate) and Phanthongtae Shinawatra, son of jailed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Yodchanan, a nephew of Thaksin, said he aimed to meet local expectations after 8 February.
He outlined a goal of developing Thailand into a high-wage country underpinned by science and technology. The presence of multiple party heavyweights underscored Pheu Thai’s effort to defend its northeastern base.
Debt relief and cost-of-living measures
Alongside the millionaire lottery, Yodchanan announced a package of measures to raise incomes and reduce household debt. These included a three-year debt moratorium for farmers, solutions for informal debts and a debt-relief programme for seniors with non-performing loans of up to 200,000 baht, under which those who repaid 10% of what they owed would have the remainder forgiven.
The party said these steps were intended to restore financial room for affected households. In parallel, it planned measures against high living costs, including lowering the electricity tariff to 3.70 baht per unit from around 4 baht and promoting a 70:30 stimulus model to boost grassroots spending that it said would go beyond the recent “Half-Half” scheme.
Kalasin as cultural and tourism hub
For Kalasin province, Yodchanan set out a vision of a key centre for tourism and cultural heritage. Pheu Thai aimed to increase the value and international recognition of local soft-power products such as Phrae Wa silk and glutinous rice from Kalasin.
He also reaffirmed the party’s commitment to decentralisation. Under the proposal, provinces would gain greater autonomy to manage budgets for infrastructure, electricity supply and water systems, positioning local authorities to tailor development more closely to regional needs.