Social Security Office Faces Scrutiny Over Poor Election Publicity

With just seven days remaining before registration closes for elections to the Social Security Board, only a small fraction of eligible voters have registered, leading to criticism of the Social Security Office (SSO) for a public relations failure. People’s Party MP Rukchanok Srinork on Wednesday questioned how the SSO’s publicity budget was being spent, given how poor the response has been from employees and employers so far. Ms Rukchanok, who also chairs the House committee monitoring budget administration, called on the SSO and employers to cooperate in encouraging registration for the election of the Social Security Board. So far, only 750,000 of the country’s 10 million eligible insured workers have registered to vote. On the employers’ side, just 6,000 out of around 500,000 eligible employers have signed up to vote, said the opposition MP. She added that employer groups had already been organised in some provinces to participate in the election. Registration to vote in the election opened on June 1 and will remain open until July 15, with voting scheduled nationwide on Sept 27. The People’s Party has long campaigned for improvements to the Social Security system. Encouraging people to take part in board elections and seek board seats is a key part of the party’s grassroots political organising strategy. In 2023, the Progressive Social Security group backed by the party was a runaway winner in the country’s first Social Security Board election. Ms Rukchanok, an outspoken critic of financial mismanagement by the SSO, has been campaigning to stir up interest among employees and employers alike in this year’s election. She has criticised the SSO’s presentation of registration data, saying the agency had relied on cumulative figures from the start of the registration period, which she argued offered little statistical value. “Registration figures should be presented on a daily or weekly basis so the public can clearly see participation trends,” she said, adding that SSO officials should make better use of their expertise to provide more meaningful data. She questioned the usefulness of the agency’s online dashboard, noting that it covered only 10 provinces instead of all 77, making it difficult for the public to access comprehensive information. The MP, who holds a degree in statistics, said the SSO should make data easier to understand by clearly identifying categories of employees and employers under the relevant sections of the Social Security Act, rather than requiring interested parties to search provincial data individually. Ms Rukchanok also described the registration process for employers as overly complicated, requiring copies of identification cards and documents issued by the Department of Business Development. She said government agencies should improve data integration, allowing the SSO to connect directly with databases held by the Department of Provincial Administration and the Department of Business Development. Such a system would reduce the burden on applicants by eliminating the need to obtain documents from multiple agencies, she said. At the same time, she called on employers to carefully verify registration documents and promptly inform applicants when submissions are incomplete or contain errors. The People’s Party has campaigned across the country and found that more than half of the people approached at local markets were unaware that the Social Security Board election was taking place. “I want to know what happened to the public relations budget,” she said. “Where did it go? Why do insured workers across the country still not know they have to vote?” She also questioned whether the SSO’s 133 branches had been effectively used to publicise the election. With just a week remaining before registration closes, Ms Rukchanok urged the agency to review its performance and explain the disappointing turnout. “Public interest in this year’s Social Security Board election is higher than it was in 2023, yet registration numbers remain very low. The SSO owes the public an explanation,” she said. She called on the SSO to use the remaining seven days to send notices to all 500,000 employers nationwide, urging them to register and to inform their employees of the July 15 registration deadline. As well, she has called on employers, including major corporations such as CP Group, Central Group and commercial banks, to grant employees a half-day leave on Sept 27 so they can cast their ballots.