5 days ago
Upper House 'no threat to Budget Bill'
Senator Alongkot Worakee, deputy chair of the Senate's Ad-Hoc Committee on the 2026 Budget Bill, dismissed speculation that the Upper House might vote down the draft legislation.
He stressed on Tuesday that such a move would harm the economy, adding that the Senate's role is limited to offering observations rather than making amendments.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday begins a special three-day session to deliberate on the second and third readings of the 3.78-trillion-baht fiscal 2026 Budget Bill. This follows the ad-hoc committee's review, which proposed cuts totalling 8.92 billion baht.
The committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira, trimmed allocations across all ministries after the bill passed its first reading on May 31 with 322 votes in favour and 158 against.
The largest cuts were made to the Interior Ministry (2.148 billion baht), parliament (880 million), the Transport Ministry (795 million), the Public Health Ministry (693 million), and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry (459 million).
Of the reduced funds, 8.69 billion baht were reallocated to priority projects and agencies.
These included state enterprises for land and construction of the Orange Line (4.914 billion baht), the Finance Ministry to host the 2026 World Bank and IMF annual meetings (1.568 billion baht), the central budget for emergency aid (1 billion baht), and the Labour Ministry for contributions to the Social Security Fund (1 billion baht).
Chief government whip Visuth Chainaroon voiced confidence that a quorum would be maintained and deliberations concluded on Wednesday to ensure its passage by the third day.
Opposition MPs are expected to use the debate to highlight political issues, including the recent Thai–Cambodian border clashes, with the military's budget, he said.
Sen Alongkot reiterated there is no reason for the Senate to block the bill.
"We can make observations, but we should not delay its passage. Given the current economic situation, the faster the funds are approved, the faster they can be disbursed," he said.
