Thailand Digital Wallet

The Thai Government’s digital wallet plan aims to boost the economy by distributing approximately $276 per eligible Thai citizen in an effort to boost consumer spending.  The Government expects around 45-50 million Thai citizens and more than 2 million vendors to participate in the program.  Qualified recipients are required to register for the handout through an application beginning August 1, with payments commencing during the 4th quarter of 2024.

The application used for registration and distributing funds is called “Tang Rat” and was developed by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) and the Digital Government Development Agency (DGA). Tang Rat’s digital ID system is linked to the Ministry of Interior’s database (MOI), so recipients need their ID card to register.  The application currently hosts 149 of more than 2,000 government services, and the Thai Government aims to transform additional government services into e-services in the next two years. 

According to the Ministry of Finance, the plan has been allocated a budget of $12.5 billion, with $4.6 billion from the 2024 fiscal budget and $7.9 billion from the 2025 fiscal budget.  The budget for Tang Rat application operations is $2.6 million.

This initiative offers an opportunity for U.S. companies related to cybersecurity, IT security technologies, blockchain technologies, and biometric authentication technologies, among others.  To learn more about this opportunity, please contact Commercial Specialist Oraphan.Boonyalug@trade.gov