On September 9, 2021, the Ministry of Labour’s Spokesperson (on politics), Mrs. Theanrat Nawamawat, spoke about the case where the media spread the news that taxi drivers over 65 years of age did not receive COVID-19 relief payments from the government. In this regard, the Ministry of Labour would like to clarify that the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense General Prayuth Chan-ocha, has foreseen the hardships and cares for workers in independent professions such as taxi drivers, who have been affected by lockdown measures in the highest control areas amid the COVID-19 situation. Therefore, Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin instructed the Social Security Office to recruit self-employed persons under 65 to apply as Section 40 insured persons to receive COVID-19 relief payments of 5,000 Baht from the government. In addition, the Ministry of Labour has distributed over 6,000 survival bags to taxi drivers through the Foundation for Taxi Drivers and rice to over 10,000 taxi drivers. Efforts have also included preparing lunch boxes for campsite workers following the “sharing kindness from shops to workers” project.
Mrs. Theanrat continued to speak about the case of taxi drivers who are 65 years of age or older, but the social security regulations to apply as a Section 40 insured persons requires applicants to be aged 15 and 65 years old. In this respect, the Prime Minister acknowledged the suffering of taxi drivers. The Cabinet meeting assigned the Ministry of Transport to prepare a project proposal to help heal taxi drivers who cannot apply as Section 40 insured persons due to not meeting the age requirements specified by the Social Security Office to continue to provide comprehensive comprehensive comprehensive care assistance.
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Division of Public Relations
9 September 2021
