Nine days after its launch, Chiang Mai’s participating shops are still packed with residents making use of the Thai Chuay Thai Plus scheme, with some traders struggling to keep shelves stocked.
At a household goods store in the Siriwattana Market, queues have been forming outside throughout the day, with traffic backing up around the premises. The store has opened an additional outdoor counter to handle the volume of customers scanning the Paotang app — previously that counter served Pracharat welfare cardholders only.
Shoppers appear to be stretching their monthly 1,000-baht government allowance as far as possible, concentrating spending on daily essentials. Top-selling items include soap, toothpaste, shampoo, toilet paper, cooking oil, condiments, rice, eggs, instant noodles and canned fish.
Muninto Promma, manager of Chiang Mai Direct, said customers in both the Thai Chuay Thai Plus and state welfare card programmes are focusing almost entirely on everyday necessities, reserving their full allowance for this category. The surge in demand has forced the store to restock on a much faster cycle than usual.
Later today, Chiang Mai Governor Rattaphon Naradit and the provincial commerce office are due to visit Warorot Market and the Chiang Mai Direct branch at Thanin Market to monitor the scheme’s progress and ensure that retailers are not taking advantage of participants.