Thailand's public sector personnel costs consume 37.9% of the 2570 budget (~800 billion baht)—significantly higher than peer nations like Malaysia (29.6%) and the upper-middle-income average (20.9%). Over 10 years, welfare spending nearly doubled to ~600 billion baht while headcount remained flat at 3.0–3.2 million, indicating per-capita cost rises of ~5% annually. The core issue is not workforce size but unit cost efficiency. Budget data fragments across three categories (personnel plans 59%, central budget 39%, local government 2%) hampers public understanding. An economist at Chulalongkorn University proposes consolidating all data into a single source to improve transparency and inform policy reform.