The government plans to use data from its latest state welfare card registration to help more than five million working-age low-income people find jobs and improve their skills in a bid to address the root causes of poverty.

Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the registration exercise found that more than five million of the programme's nine million-plus recipients were aged 20 to 60.

"This is an issue that must be addressed," Mr Ekniti said. "We cannot allow people to continue earning less than 100,000 baht a year indefinitely. The government must use this data to create employment opportunities and upgrade workers' skills so they can earn higher incomes."

His comments came amid criticism of the 2026 state welfare card registration after more than 9.3 million applicants failed to qualify, prompting the government to review the scheme's eligibility criteria.

Mr Ekniti said changes in the number of beneficiaries would not create budgetary problems, noting that the country already spends more than 70 billion baht annually on the programme.

"Our priority is to make sure assistance reaches those who truly have nothing," he said, adding that those who did not qualify remained eligible for other forms of government assistance.

He attributed many disputes to incomplete or outdated government databases rather than flaws in the criteria. "The problem lies in the data, which may not have been updated, particularly regarding applicants' assets."

However, the new exercise had helped expose weaknesses in government databases and identify cases in which people may have been deceived into transferring or registering assets. "If it can be proven that applicants were defrauded, the government will restore their welfare rights," Mr Ekniti said.