Let’s take a look at the draft budget for fiscal year 2027, worth 3.788 trillion baht, and see where the Anutin 2 government is allocating our tax money.

The total numbers are interesting. Regular spending will hit 2.786 trillion baht, or 73.6% of the entire budget — up 5%. Meanwhile, capital investment is shrinking by 8.4% to 789,171 million baht. The deficit stands at 788,000 million baht, or 3.8% of GDP.

Here are the top 5 ministries getting the most money: #1 Finance gets 440,871 million baht (+10.4%), #2 Education gets 359,577 million baht (+1.3%), #3 Interior gets 288,280 million baht (-3.6%), #4 Defense gets 203,285 million baht (-0.5%), and #5 Public Health gets 181,478 million baht (+2.6%).

Who’s up and who’s cut? Digital Economy is the big winner, up 33.6%. Transport takes the biggest hit, down 11.7% — that’s 23,442 million baht gone. Even Interior, which the PM himself controls, got cut by 3.6%.

Here’s what really makes me think: pensions and retirement benefits together total 389,090 million baht, or 10.3% of the whole budget. Meanwhile, the economic crisis response budget was slashed in half — from 25,000 million to 12,000 million baht.

What do these numbers tell us? The budget is hardening. Regular spending eats up nearly three-quarters of everything. Investment in our future is shrinking instead of growing.

Sources: Budget Bureau, BBC Thai, Nation TV, Thansettakij