While not explicitly called that, and not extending (so far) past the 10,000 baht "handout", this is the central banker—and other control phreaks—dream.
First up, from The Bangkok Post, August 11:
Pheu Thai to revive ‘digital wallet’
The Pheu Thai Party intends to reintroduce its 10,000-baht digital wallet programme once the government it is forming takes office, says deputy secretary-general Paopoom Rojanasakul.
The party shelved the policy after finishing second in the May 14 election, as the social welfare policies of the election-winning Move Forward Party were given priority when the latter was attempting to put together a coalition government.
“Now the situation has changed and Pheu Thai is now the core (of a new coalition),” Mr Paopoom said on Friday. “Today, the party would like to officially declare that it will move ahead with the digital wallet policy, using blockchain technology.
The policy involves a 10,000-baht digital handout to every Thai aged 16 and over, delivered to a smartphone. The digital money can only be spent within a four-kilometre radius of recipients’ homes and is valid for six months.“There would be no problems for those without access to this application as they could use their national ID card to get a personal code instead,” Mr Paopoom said.
Thailand would be among the very first countries to introduce this form of digital payment, he said.....
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And from The Diplomat, September 7:
Yesterday, Reuters published a report based on a draft of a policy speech that Thailand’s new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is due to give next week, outlining some of the main elements of the economic policy that the incoming government is set to pursue.
As expected, the policy is heavy on populist measures. According to Reuters, Srettha’s administration plans to “give each citizen a 10,000 baht ($282) handout, delay debt repayments, and lower energy prices in a bid to ease the cost of living and boost the economy.”
“The policy will trigger economic growth … we will inject the economy with cash so that it reaches everyone and creates opportunities for all,” states the draft speech, which Srettha, who was sworn in earlier this week, is due to deliver in Parliament on Monday.
In the policy speech draft cited by Reuters, the government said it would help farmers and small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by offering them moratoriums on debt repayments, which it said would “be fiscally responsible and not create moral hazard.” The government also plans to lower the prices of electricity and cooking oil, and, as has previously been reported, to boost the number of tourism arrivals by relaxing visa requirements from China, India, and other important tourist markets....
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In addition to controlling the "when" and the "where" of the money being spent, programmable money goes a long way toward solving the central bank problem of not being able to get negative rates low enough:
Cash Escape Inhibitors or How Low Can Negative Rates Actually Go?
