PM pours money into a Thaksin project

Somchai, along with Deputy Prime Minister Dr Olarn Chaipravat launched the project at Lanna Technology University in Chiang Mai's Doi Saket district.

The PM said he was keeping this project alive because he believed it had proven useful as it fostered growth and development in rural areas.

"Every satang is used transparently with no politician benefiting personally from the project," he said.

He said the government would allocate more money to about 10,000 villages by the end of this year.

Commenting on the political crisis, Somchai insisted that it would not obstruct national development because people's well being remained the government's main priority.

After Somchai transferred the funds to the Government Savings Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, 76 lamps were released into the sky to mark this goodwill gesture, which will benefit 27,699 villages and communities in all 76 provinces across the country.