Thai monarchy budget survives rare calls for cuts in parliament

The Thai government’s allocation of 8.76 billion baht ($262 million) for the monarchy in the next fiscal year survived unprecedented calls for cuts by opposition lawmakers during parliamentary proceedings that concluded on Sunday.

The questions over the royal budget in parliament’s lower house followed criticism of the monarchy and calls to curb its powers at youth-led protests last year.

The Royal Palace did not respond to questions on the challenge to the royal budget.

The government lawmakers in parliament did not comment on opposition lawmakers calls for royal budget cuts.

The budget for royal agencies for the next fiscal year is for a 2.4 per cent cut compared to the previous year.

It is the first reduction since all monarchy-related agencies were combined in 2017 after the succession of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.