ith politics, though, because it comes just after an election in which the governing party, led by the Prime Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, campaigned on a promise to ease cost-of-living pressure during the back-to-school season and to ensure that the benefits reached the kingdom’s farthest outposts. Dubbed the “Thai Helps Thai Back to School 2026” campaign, the promotions run through the end of May. The initiative required cooperation from the nation’s biggest retailers: they needed to cut prices on hundreds of back-to-school basics, but, hey, they were going to do that anyway, so what’s the downside? By participating, retailers earn brownie points with the government, the opportunity to polish their brand image, and a chance to sell merchandise to people and in places they normally wouldn’t. The government, in its role of “facilitator”, is handing out 500,000 coupons worth a little over US$3 each for consumers to spend on qualifying products. It is also providing distribution facilities (called “Blue Flag” outlets) to make merchandise available where everyone can access it. The government’s Ministry of Commerce has signed on 17 of the country’s biggest retailers, including Lotus’s, Makro, Big C, 7-Eleven and Tops, and two e-commerce platforms (Shopee and Lazada), along with school uniform manufacturers and educational services, who have all cut prices on key items. School uniforms are a particularly important item in Thailand, a country where even most university students are still required to wear them. Since uniforms are so universal, personal individuality has to be expressed through small niceties like hair clips, make-up and bags, making these items particularly big sellers at retailers like Moshi Moshi, which specialise in small personal accessories. To ensure that the benefits of the Thai Helps Thai campaign reach those in underserved areas, discounted items are being made available on Fridays throughout May at about 900 of the Blue Flag outlets, many of them government district offices sprinkled around the country. The retailers themselves or third-party logistics companies partner with the government deliver to these outlets. Grocers on wheels In many places, though, fixed-point retail outlets are still difficult to access. In Thailand and elsewhere in developing Asia, outlying areas with a scarcity of shops are served by mobile grocers who trawl the streets and back lanes of villages and small towns, loudspeakers blaring to attract attention, selling fresh meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables and other grocery items. The locals are used to this kind of shopping – indeed, many depend on it – but mobile vendors of this kind are currently adversely affected by elevated fuel costs. Enter the Thai Helps Thai initiative again, with the government providing fuel subsidies for these vendors, and also rolling out its own fleet of grocery trucks to get goods to where people need them. Not only that, it is also ensuring that these mobile vendors have access to discounted back-to-school goods. Brownie points for the big retailers Participation in the program provides a good marketing opportunity for big retailers, not to mention the government and the Prime Minister himself. Central Retail’s Tops supermarket brand is one retailer that seized the opportunity quickly. On May 1, Mr Charnvirakul himself rocked up to the Tops booth at one of the Blue Flag outlets, Ban Yai City Market, north of Bangkok, where back-to-school products were being sold at discounts of up to 50 per cent. It was a massive photo opportunity, with smiling Tops employees looking on as the Prime Minister inspected merchandise and filled a shopping cart. Particularly heartwarming was the PM’s gesture of letting an opposition party member push his shopping cart, a signal that Thais help Thais, no matter their political affiliation. A clear role for the government While political heavyweights like the Prime Minister were acutely aware of the opportunity to consolidate the government’s popularity by creating and spruiking the Thai Helps Thai campaign, there is nonetheless a legitimate economic role for the government in this instance. Thailand and its neighbours in Indochina are not highly urbanised: Thailand’s rural population is still more than 40 per cent of the total, in Cambodia the figure is closer to 80 per cent and in Vietnam, 60 per cent. Since retailers and other service providers concentrate where money and people concentrate, this inevitably results in a much higher proportion of underserved areas in Indochina than in highly urbanised countries. The Thai government is redressing this by opening its municipal offices for locals under the current program to buy school uniforms, stationery and other basic back-to-school merchandise at affordable prices. And by assisting mobile vendors, they are also pushing merchandise into places that would otherwise be unable to access it. More to come with Thai Helps Thai Plus More stimulus is to come in June, with the details of “Thai Helps Thai Plus” still working their way through the parliamentary channels. The program will include a direct consumer subsidy for purchasing an approved range of goods. That is good news for retailers, both large and small, following a bumper Songkran festival in April, when, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), domestic and foreign tourists spent about US$950 million, a 6 per cent increase from 2025. It’s a credit to Mr Charnvirakul that he is carrying through on his promise to help more consumers get access to essential back-to-school items. However, there is also an unfortunate touch of irony, since it was under his watch as Health Minister that millions of Thais lost their livelihoods and did it rough as retail and hospitality jobs were eliminated by his very own Covid directives. Perhaps Thai Helps Thai is his way of building up some positive karma again. Further reading: How subsidies are fuelling China’s retail rebound