Decode Thailand welfare state through cultural norms of donation
The Thai government's choice of donation over using budget to solve problems raises questions about the transparency of government budget usage.
"Donation" seems to be something that is closely tied to Thai society. We cannot deny that donation and charitable acts are good things and are another way to help improve society and foster a sense of community (feeling like brothers and sisters) that arises from living together. This mindset may partly come from the influence of Buddhism and beliefs about sin and merit.
The problem that exists today is that the government has taken donations as a tool for governing the country, especially in the past few years. One thing that is often seen from the government is the request for donations, particularly during various disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and donations to help those affected by tragic events. This raises the question of whether the government should play a role as an intermediary in receiving donations and distributing them.
Thai government and the culture of donation
With the foundation of Thai society under the influence of Buddhist beliefs, donating and giving alms has been a tradition that has been prevalent throughout. It is a choice for doing good deeds in both normal and abnormal situations, especially donations that contribute to the maintenance and preservation of public property for the collective benefit of society, or to help fellow humans affected by disasters.
When going back to read the Royal Gazette by typing the word "donation," there are some government announcements to express gratitude or honor those who donate property to help the government. It can be seen that donations for the maintenance of public utilities, donations for the maintenance of government buildings and facilities, and necessary donations to alleviate the spread of disease at that time are widespread and come from many agencies, such as the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Public Health. However, donations of this nature are often cases in which the state has a role as the beneficiary for maintenance and supporting the mission of the government.
Donating to help the government has become a tradition in Thai society, where people, the wealthy, and those who can afford it, may help support the government's mission through donations to supplement government funding and support government operations that lack financial resources. Currently, the government has created incentives to motivate private organizations to donate in exchange for tax deductions, and it is considered a way of giving back to society. It is widely recognized that the power of donations is more effective than relying solely on government agencies to carry out their operations.
In James Rolph Edwards' research, it was concluded that donations can distribute aid to the public more effectively than the government's budget, because the government's budget is sometimes not allocated sufficiently to meet the needs. This is similar to the context in Thailand. According to a survey by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), Thailand has a large amount of donations, averaging 73 billion baht per year over the past 10 years, which is higher than the budget of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
However, donations should be used to support the government's missions when the government is not ready or does not have sufficient budget to manage the situation. Donations should not be used in all situations, especially when the government has already set a budget to manage a particular issue or when the government is ready and able to handle it.
Donations as a dual-edged sword in transferring the role of the government
Although donating has its benefits in helping to promote the government's mission, it cannot be denied that donation is a double-edged sword, especially in situations where the donation occurs when the government has a responsibility to fulfill. Over the past five years, Thailand has faced difficult situations caused by natural disasters and various crises. The government and state agencies have therefore requested donations to alleviate the people's difficulties, instead of using funds from the annual budget that have been reserved for those purposes.
Timeline of requesting donations for government aid to disaster victims by the government and state agencies*:
January 2017: The government opened a relief center for flood victims in southern Thailand to serve as a central hub for receiving donations to help those affected by the disaster.
July 2017: The government received donations to aid those affected by Typhoon Sonca in northeastern Thailand.
January 2019: The government held a live charity event called "Together We Share Our Hearts to Help Southern Thailand" to raise funds for flood victims and those affected by Typhoon Pabuk in the southern region.
September 2019: The government held a live charity event called "Thai Brothers and Sisters Come Together to Help Flood Victims" to aid those affected by Typhoon Podul and Typhoon Kajiki in the northern and northeastern regions.
March 2020: The government, through the Cabinet, considered establishing a fund to support the COVID-19 response efforts.
December 2020: Chulalongkorn University began accepting donations to fund research for a COVID-19 vaccine for use within Thailand.
December 2020: The government urged the public to donate to the relief fund for flood victims in southern Thailand.
October 2022: The government called for donations to aid victims of the Nong Bua Lam Phu disaster.
Note*: This only includes important donation drives by the government and significant events.
The problem with this issue is that the aforementioned donations requested by the government are already allocated and budgeted for, especially in terms of responding to disaster situations. The government has allocated a significant amount of funding for contingency or emergency expenses in the central budget reserve. Over the past several years, the government has reserved a large amount of money for this purpose (a graph shows the central budget expenditure). Additionally, in some years, funds have been transferred to increase the central budget expenditure.
To summarize, transferring funds to the central budget without using them to address problems fully reflects the failure to achieve the goal of having a central budget. This creates opportunities for diverting the budget to other purposes, such as military spending or ensuring stability, which raises concerns about transparency in budget use.
Image showing the central budget expenditure for the reserve fund for emergency or necessary cases (unit: million baht)
The above situation raises questions as to why the Thai government chose to use donation as a part of their tool in governing the country, using funds from the public to assist each other, instead of using budgeted funds to aid and alleviate damage caused.
In particular, in the recent case where the government invited donations to help the victims of a tragedy in Nong Bua Lamphu province, it is reasonable to question why the Thai government chose to use donations as a tool in managing the country instead of using budgeted funds to help and heal the damage caused. The victims have the right to compensation and healing from state agencies that have allocated budget funds for this purpose, such as the Ministry of Justice in cases of criminal offenses and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. If the relevant state agencies step in to provide assistance or support, it may help alleviate the suffering without having to request donations.
The aforementioned situation does not include small donations or charitable works by private organizations that come in to support the government's mission, which can be done simply by using the budget appropriately. For example, fundraising to purchase medical equipment and tools or using the budget to donate for this purpose. If the government decides not to use the budget for inappropriate activities, such as purchasing three submarines worth 36 billion baht and three unmanned aerial vehicles worth 4.1 billion baht, and instead focuses on human security through social welfare programs using military funds, it could benefit the country more.
The fact that the government has become a major recipient of donations, even though there is a budget prepared for such operations, paints a picture of Thailand as a dependent state that waits for donations to be used when human security is threatened. However, there is money available to maintain and support some things that are currently of little necessity. It is as if people cannot properly prioritize matters.
Furthermore, this donation has become a way of undermining the value of the welfare rights that citizens should receive from the government. Because when donations are made, the nature of assistance takes the form of charity, even though assistance should be a right of citizens and a responsibility of the government to provide aid in natural disasters, provide quality vaccines to the public, or even provide assistance when impacted by crimes. It should be the right of citizens and the duty of the government to assist the people, and the assistance should come from the budget that has already been allocated. While donations should serve as something to supplement or fill the gap in the insufficient budget allocation from taxpayers.
In summary, donating is a good thing, but it should not allow society to neglect the biggest problem, which is that donations cannot compensate for the government's responsibility towards the people. Using donation as a tool to solve every problem is another form of demonstrating the government's irresponsibility when problems arise by asking society to help each other, despite the fact that there is already a budget set aside to address these issues.