Matichon Online reported on 26 January that the Cabinet approved 191 million baht for Royal Thai Police crowd control operations, information that was not revealed in the Cabinet minutes. The police chief said in a press conference that it was the cost of crowd control for the protests in 2020.

According to Matichon, the Royal Thai Police requested 191 million baht from the central budget for fuel, personnel, accommodation, equipment, and the use of buses of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) for the purpose of “maintaining peace and order at the assemblies.”

Matichon also reported that the Minister for Social Development and Human Security Juti Krairiksh expressed concern that it may not be a good time for approving the budget due to the current political situation. But if it was necessary, he had no objection.

When Prachatai examined the 26 January cabinet meeting summary on Thaigov, there was no mention of the police budget for crowd control.

The approval led to criticism from public figures including Move Forward party MP Rangsiman Rome who said on Twitter “we have a government which approves almost 200 million for crowd control while a large number of people still cannot access Covid relief.”

Kovit Wongsurawat, a political scientist also sent a sarcastic tweet “Yes! The government approves 191 million baht from the central budget for crowd control. The border does not need control.”

In response, Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk, Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, held a press conference on 27 January to say that the request for the budget was in accordance with regulations. He also said that the budget was reimbursement for expenses related to the Thai protests in 2020, not future protests.

However, Pol Gen Suwat said it remains to be seen whether the budget will be disbursed to the BMTA because there are also other expenditures.

In November last year, the BMTA union called for the Royal Thai Police to pay compensation since they used 121 BMTA buses to obstruct or surround protesters in October-November over their objections. Manager online reported that the daily cost of each bus includes 3,000 baht for foregone passenger fees, 1,401 baht for maintenance, 71 baht for GPS, and 800 baht salary for the driver and assistant.

In November last year, the Ordnance Division of the Royal Thai Police announced its procurement plan for 2021 which included over 300 million baht on crowd control.