Sharp tax hike on alcohol and tobacco effective immediately

[Andrew65]

From The Nation, about 30 mins ago:

 

The details are as following:

The tax per bottle of wine priced more than Bt1,000 will be Bt110 upwards, depending on the price. The tax on locally made wine will decrease by Bt25 per bottle.

 

The tax per can of beer will be Bt0.50 higher, and for bottles of beer it will be Bt2 .66 more. For higher-priced beer, the tax will decrease by between Bt0.99 and Bt2.

White spirit will be taxed more by Bt0.84-3.49 per bottle. For other kinds of locally produced spirit, the additional tax will be Bt8 per bottle for 28 per cent alcohol content and Bt30 for 40 per cent alcohol content .

The tax on other imported spirits, such as Johnnie Walker Red and Blue Label Scotch whisky, will be a little less, from Bt3 to Bt26 depending on alcohol content.

For cheap cigarette brands, the tax will add Bt4 to Bt15 more per pack, while higher-priced cigarettes will be taxed at Bt2-19 more per pack.

Sugary drinks also be subject to higher taxes. Soft drink taxes will be Bt0.13 to Bt 0.50 per bottle, but sugar-free soft-drink will be taxed less by Bt0.28 Bt0.36 per bottle.

Energy drinks will be taxed more, ranging from Bt0.32 to Bt0.90 per can or bottle.

Green tea will be taxed Bt1.13 to Bt2.05 more per bottle, and the tax on coffee will be Bt1.35 more per bottle or can.

[rott]

26 minutes ago, ROBINPATTAYA said:

Small Singha Light was 32 baht, now 45 baht in 7/11, about 40% increase

A box was about 780 baht so assume now about1035 baht

I suspect they have possibly mnade a mistake.

No point drinking it anyway since it was changed from 3.5% abv to 4.5.

 

[Bannoi]

Is it legal to brew your own beer in Thailand.

[Andrew65]

1 minute ago, Bannoi said:

Is it legal to brew your own beer in Thailand.

Only if you brew more than 10 million litres per annum, so you'd better get brewing!

[Cadbury]

We will probably never know but I can't help wondering if prices on beer and spirits etc. in the multitude of military Officers Mess' around the country are tax exempt for the elite defending the country's borders.

Just for comparison in Vietnam.

Bottle of JW Red Scotch at BigC store Hanoi = 467 TBH

450ml Hanoi beer (4.25 al/vol) in crates of 24 from local corner store = 9.1 TBH per bottle.

4 litre shiraz red in cask at BigC store = 620 TBH (wine attracts tax in Vietnam to protect local industry)

[Jack Mountain]

23 minutes ago, naboo said:

OK, we can chill!

 

Actual price changes as reported by the Nation are here.

 

The tax per bottle of wine priced more than Bt1,000 will be Bt110 upwards, depending on the price. The tax on locally made wine will decrease by Bt25 per bottle.

 

The tax per can of beer will be Bt0.50 higher, and for bottles of beer it will be Bt2 .66 more. For higher-priced beer, the tax will decrease by between Bt0.99 and Bt2.

 

The tax on imported spirits will be a little less, from Bt3 to Bt26 depending on alcohol content.

 

For cheap cigarette brands, add Bt4 to Bt15 more per pack

higher-priced cigarettes Bt2-19 more per pack.

"The tax per can of beer will be Bt0.50 higher, and for bottles of beer it will be Bt2 .66 more. For higher-priced beer, the tax will decrease by between Bt0.99 and Bt2.

 

If true it's a big relief i guess but why the difference in tax between a can and a bottle? 

[PaddyDaddy]

Just this minute talked to my supplier and he tells me increase is 10bht per case of beer.........no need to get our collective knickers in a twist if he is correct 

[1337markus]

I guess there will be a lot of expats trying to sell their investment; bars?

[expat_4_life]

2 hours ago, marino28 said:

This one was the old tax scheme . 

 

This can't be the old one ... at the bottom it says "Source: The Excite Department"

[mike1967]

Well done Thailand. Just another reason for people not to go there. You'll be losing more than just the tax on beer and cigarettes. 

[55Jay]

Effective immediately, from source to distributors.  Existing stocks would (should) still be the same until higher taxed items flow through supply chain.

 

There may be some cheeky shop owners looking to take advantage of the confusion and put the prices up for existing stock.

[moonseeker]

Let's hope some good soul is going to publish before/after prices soon. Thank you.  MS>

[khunano]

2 hours ago, Roger Harris said:

Now Cambodia does look interesting to live

Or Europe, at least my home country in central Europe, where you can buy a decent bottle of wine for less than 400 Baht in the supermarket. My (one-way) flight is booked and I'm looking forward to enjoying some nice wines later this year.

[Shaunduhpostman]

They are  not wasting any time with this one. I had my calander marked as Oct. 1 the day I would no longer be able to afford a night of drinking once a week. 

 

Seems to me the government was mincing around saying it wouldn't affect our prices don't worry, but the Thai media had read the fine print and there were some charts saying the effect on us would be a doubling of current beer and wine prices.

 

I hope the Thai media were not right about that, clearly the government was talking nonsense when they disingenuously said it would affect us not to woryy as the tax only applies to distributors, the tax consumers and retailers pay will remain unchanged. That was a while ago, so I apologize if I haven't got it quite right here.

Edited September 16, 2017 by Shaunduhpostman

[jinners]

2 hours ago, maeab101 said:

Maybe this will help some people to stop drinking.

No it won't. It never does. Have you learned nothing from the ridiculous taxes in Scandinavia and some middle east countries?

[anto]

4 minutes ago, khunano said:

Or Europe, at least my home country in central Europe, where you can buy a decent bottle of wine for less than 400 Baht in the supermarket. My (one-way) flight is booked and I'm looking forward to enjoying some nice wines later this year.

Moving back for Wine price ? lol

[55Jay]

3 minutes ago, khunano said:

Or Europe, at least my home country in central Europe, where you can buy a decent bottle of wine for less than 400 Baht in the supermarket. My (one-way) flight is booked and I'm looking forward to enjoying some nice wines later this year.

Ha ha, indeed. My Mom sups Berringer's White Zin.  Still calls it "4 Buck Chuck" although over the years, it's gone up to around $6.00. 

[khunano]

3 minutes ago, anto said:

Moving back for Wine price ? lol

one (more) of many reasons....

[yellowboat]

3 hours ago, maeab101 said:

This is good news for Thailand.

Funny, the Cambodians seem like low alcohol prices.  It is good news for Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam.  Places where you party and have a good time.  Tourists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China will not be impressed, as they enjoy low prices on alcohol. 

 

When in Thailand, I barely drink at all any.  It has always been over priced. 

 

Another economic gaff with those who have more power commonsense . 

[nausea]

1 hour ago, Thian said:

is rolling tobacco also more expensive now?

Packets of rolling tobacco are so ridiculously cheap (something like 10bt) that any percentage increase will be insignificant. Available from the M&P stores. You won't find it in the 7s et al I think. Very Lo-So so good to smoke down on the farm but not recommended for the bars. If you really want to go native try the palm tree papers, good luck with that.

 

[Bundooman]

So let's get this in perspective. The owners of Chang, Leo and Singha beer, together with the owners of Lao Khao' type spirits, who, if we think about it, are probably among the top elitists in this country and most likely associated with the government, military or the Police, (or all three), want to increase their profits.

 

It has sweet FA to do with the health of the Nation. White spirit increases of 2฿ compared with the huge hike for all  imported spirits and wine is pitiful. I would expect that the peasant masses in the rural areas will put up with that - they will not stop drinking the stuff. If the government wanted to stop the masses, they would have hiked that up 10 fold. so all they have done is this:

a.    Kept the masses in place with their favourite gut and brain rotting rice wine. No trouble there then .

b.   Enriched the three big beer manufacturers, because those drinkers, including foreigners will put up with the extortionate price increases, (maybe).

c.   But more importantly, (for them), introduced outrageous taxes on anything foreign including wines. The beer makers do NOT want the population of Thailand to change their drinking habits by drinking more imported wines and spirits.  They, (us and Thai Plebs) might like them and drift away from the present swill on offer!

 

Protectionist  and dictatorial edicts. Nothing more - nothing less!

[rott]

Just back from BigC, no price changes yet. But the alcohol section has signs all over in Thai with the number 12 prominent. Whatever that means.

 

The two drinks wholesalers I passed on the way were both closed.

[Time Traveller]

3 hours ago, maeab101 said:

This is good news for Thailand.

How are taxes ever good news?

Because if they were good news then a 100,000% tax on everything would even better, right?

[hobz]

If they really want money, why not increase fines for traffic violations 10x - 50x?

[Thian]

3 minutes ago, Bundooman said:

So let's get this in perspective. The owners of Chang, Leo and Singha beer, together with the owners of Lao Khao' type spirits, who, if we think about it, are probably among the top elitists in this country and most likely associated with the government, military or the Police, (or all three), want to increase their profits.

 

It has sweet FA to do with the health of the Nation. White spirit increases of 2฿ compared with the huge hike for all  imported spirits and wine is pitiful. I would expect that the peasant masses in the rural areas will put up with that - they will not stop drinking the stuff. If the government wanted to stop the masses, they would have hiked that up 10 fold. so all they have done is this:

a.    Kept the masses in place with their favourite gut and brain rotting rice wine. No trouble there then .

b.   Enriched the three big beer manufacturers, because those drinkers, including foreigners will put up with the extortionate price increases, (maybe).

c.   But more importantly, (for them), introduced outrageous taxes on anything foreign including wines. The beer makers do NOT want the population of Thailand to change their drinking habits by drinking more imported wines and spirits.  They, (us and Thai Plebs) might like them and drift away from the present swill on offer!

 

Protectionist  and dictatorial edicts. Nothing more - nothing less!

Well if they raised the price of lao khao the Reds would be bombing in BKK tomorrow. So to keep them happy they did it this way. Somebody has to pay for the new trains and armytoys.

[Thian]

2 minutes ago, hobz said:

If they really want money, why not increase fines for traffic violations 10x - 50x?

Or at least fine the violations according the law.

[hobz]

5 minutes ago, Bundooman said:

So let's get this in perspective. The owners of Chang, Leo and Singha beer, together with the owners of Lao Khao' type spirits, who, if we think about it, are probably among the top elitists in this country and most likely associated with the government, military or the Police, (or all three), want to increase their profits.

 

It has sweet FA to do with the health of the Nation. White spirit increases of 2฿ compared with the huge hike for all  imported spirits and wine is pitiful. I would expect that the peasant masses in the rural areas will put up with that - they will not stop drinking the stuff. If the government wanted to stop the masses, they would have hiked that up 10 fold. so all they have done is this:

a.    Kept the masses in place with their favourite gut and brain rotting rice wine. No trouble there then .

b.   Enriched the three big beer manufacturers, because those drinkers, including foreigners will put up with the extortionate price increases, (maybe).

c.   But more importantly, (for them), introduced outrageous taxes on anything foreign including wines. The beer makers do NOT want the population of Thailand to change their drinking habits by drinking more imported wines and spirits.  They, (us and Thai Plebs) might like them and drift away from the present swill on offer!

 

Protectionist  and dictatorial edicts. Nothing more - nothing less!

We have extraordinary taxes on all alcohol in Sweden and people still drink like crazy

[rodney earl]

I am so glad that I dont drink or smoke. I hope they put the tax up again.!!

[plastkort]

3 hours ago, baboon said:

No, they will hike up the prices further to cover the lost revenue.

Better watch out for methanol poisoning following weeks then

[sungod]

37 minutes ago, khunano said:

Or Europe, at least my home country in central Europe, where you can buy a decent bottle of wine for less than 400 Baht in the supermarket. My (one-way) flight is booked and I'm looking forward to enjoying some nice wines later this year.

See ya