street wise:Divvying up the fortune among a family of 36

The noises could be expected to be louder if the family leader decided to leave his fortune to the kids. No matter how much the fortune is, it would never be sufficient to satisfy the needs of all. And the family's leader would be the one in the most difficult position.

Having pictured this scene, you will understand the commotion concerning the government's allocation of the Bt100-billion additional budget this fiscal year.

Transport Minister Santi Prompat last week came up with proposals to tap Bt58 billion of the amount, while the Education Ministry demanded Bt30 billion for its mega-projects, including the provision of more science and mathematics teachers.

The Interior Ministry initially wanted to increase the salary of village chiefs by Bt2,500. Though it later softened the demand, asking for only Bt1,000, that would still entail a budget of Bt70 billion a year.

There was also a request to raise low-level civil servants' pay by 6 per cent. Across the nation, we have about 400,000 civil servants.

Also on the table were proposals from state-owned financial institutions demanding higher capital so they could lend more. They claim this would boost the economy at a time of sagging demand.

It is estimated that all these demands would exceed the available extra funding by three times.

As the government's leader, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is supposed to be in the hot seat. Luckily, the power to distribute the money is passed on to his deputy, Olarn Chaipravat. Indeed, Somchai would have no energy left to handle all the demands. Right now, he still knows so little about many things. If he assumed this responsibility as well, he may not be able to attend functions.

As the family's biggest brother, Olarn must be scratching his head to ensure fairness to all.

Certainly, the task would be a lot easier if this happened in a real family. Then, Olarn would enjoy others' respect as the eldest brother. In addition, he would know that no damage is done, as all recipients - despite the size of their cuts - are members of the same family, who are naturally supporting each other. Moreover, in real life, it's not his father's money to be distributed, but the taxpayers'.

That explains why he called for assistance from other deputy prime ministers.

We'll see this week if the family leader will support the eldest son's request, or let things float without direction around him, as always.

Note: From this week, due to space constraints, Streetwise will appear only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We apologise for the change in schedule.