The Thai government will give more money to the rural poor to jump-start the economy, the prime minister said Sunday, adopting and expanding a much-criticised key program of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he planned to double government spending in the program that provides grants to poor villages as part of a stimulus package. Abhisit's Democrat Party had previously decried the program as a brazen attempt at buying the loyalty of the country's poor majority.
The government will also step up recruitment of college graduates for government jobs to offset rising unemployment and move ahead with plans to offer millions of low-income residents a one-time payment of 2,000 baht ($57), Abhisit said in a televised address. ``The fire is burning fiercely in the house, so we cannot be too economical on the water we use for putting out the blaze,' he said.