“We support care for the elderly but such a big cut of budget will seriously hurt our operation,” ThaiHealth assistant manager and spokesman Prakasit Kayasit said. “We can’t agree to that.”

He spoke after it was reported that the FPO said only Bt2 billion would be left for ThaiHealth and any baht beyond that would go to the Elderly Fund.

At present, ThaiHealth receives an annual budget equivalent to 2 per cent of the so-called sin taxes. For the current fiscal year, ThaiHealth received more than Bt4 billion.

“News reports suggest that the FPO expects that whatever is beyond Bt2 billion will go to the elderly fund. But that’s not what we have agreed to do,” Prakasit said. “Although we intended to accept the ceiling for our budget, we expect the ceiling to be Bt4 billion, not Bt2 billion.

The draft amendment of the Act governing ThaiHealth calls for a Bt4 billion annual ceiling for the organisation. The proposed amendment will soon be submitted for public hearings.

Thailand is considered an ageing society. The government provides a monthly subsidy of between Bt600 and Bt1,000 to the elderly.