The ceiling set for the Social Security Office’s (SSO) management costs should be halved to 5 per cent, a researcher with the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) said.

“Article 24 of the Social Security Act should be amended to lower the ceiling of the management cost,” TDRI researcher Werapong Prapha said yesterday.

He was speaking at a seminar on social-security bills organised by TDRI and King Prajadhipok’s Institute.

So far, four Social Security Bills have been submitted to Parliament as various parties seek a better law to control the country’s social-security scheme. Werapong said that though the SSO’s operating cost stood at about 3 per cent of the Social Security Fund, it would be safer to bring down the legal limit for management costs to 5 per cent.

“Also, the auditing committee for SSO should include representatives of employers and employees,” he said.

Dr Worawan Chandoevwit of the TDRI voiced concern that some parts of the money from the Social Security Fund might not be used efficiently. “There’s budget for overseas educational trips. But it remains unclear whether these trips are really useful,” she said.

According to the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, the SSO budget for overseas education trips is well over Bt30 million a year.

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First published in The Nation, 6 April 2013