A 61-year-old homeless woman who died of tuberculosis (TB) last month had only just been confirmed as a Thai in a DNA test, which would have earned her a citizenship card and access to the Bt30 healthcare scheme that could have saved her life.

THE GOVERNMENT’S populist policies and staunch support has helped pro-junta Phalang Pracharat snatch votes from the Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai in the Northeast, a scholar from Mahasarakham University said yesterday.