Midweek rant: Tax hikes on booze and fags – the mother of all cock-ups makes Thailand a laughing stock

[Get Real]

So much rant for nothing. People do not need to smoke. People do not need to drink. What´s the big fuzz?
You want to drink and/or smoke? You do not need any PhD in maths. It´s pure simple. You just go to the shop and pay the price for it. 
Can´t do!? Okey, just stop or minimize your intake/use.

I guess that is like same in all countries. Just that all the people chooses to complain so much in Thailand. This country has sadly became a place for all the worlds expats and tourists that want´s to complain about anything and everything. Just buy a ticket somewhere else if it doesn´t suit you, and stop complaining over everything.

Another thing is that the "modern god" is not the Tourist. The tourist is just another source of income.

[retarius]

The total incompetence is shown by the fact that red wine, as the only alcohol to have convincingly and consistently shown a health benefit has its price raised by 150baht whereas Lao Khao goes up just 30 baht a bottle. LOS? Land of the Stupid.

[tigermoth]

Wine here is more than twice the cost than Australian prices and beer is almost the same cost. Spirits are also far more expensive here, even in the so called duty free at the airport, for instance a litre of Johnny Walker double black being about AUD$53.00 in Australian supermarkets and about $65.00 at the 'duty free' and here $78.00 in supermarkets. I suspect  If wine was a sensible price, maybe 40% less then the tax income on it would benefit the government far more than it does now.

[Grusa]

The last thing any government wants is for its poulation to live longer. The sooner you die, the less the government has to pay out for pensions, social welfare, health care, etc., etc.

This goes even more for farangland than here. Smoke and drink and gorge yourselves to death, pensioners, otherwise there won't be enough money for submarines.

[inThailand]

29 minutes ago, Get Real said:

So much rant for nothing. People do not need to smoke. People do not need to drink. What´s the big fuzz?
You want to drink and/or smoke? You do not need any PhD in maths. It´s pure simple. You just go to the shop and pay the price for it. 
Can´t do!? Okey, just stop or minimize your intake/use.

I guess that is like same in all countries. Just that all the people chooses to complain so much in Thailand. This country has sadly became a place for all the worlds expats and tourists that want´s to complain about anything and everything. Just buy a ticket somewhere else if it doesn´t suit you, and stop complaining over everything.

Another thing is that the "modern god" is not the Tourist. The tourist is just another source of income.

A complainer complaining about complaining! I guess that makes you a super expat.

[zaphod reborn]

Move to Malaysia or Singapore and tell us if Thailand is a laughing stock for slightly increasing alcohol and tobacco taxes.

[hansnl]

7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

They are not serving the public. They expect the public to be serving them.

 

That is the problem; when you are neither accountable nor responsible, it does not matter what you do.

 

 

Unlike politicians and civil "servants" in your own country, I presume?

[GarryP]

I don't believe that anyone has a problem about increases in tax on tobacco and alcohol, although the prices do appear to be disproportionately high when one considers the average income of the working population.  The real issue is the totally incompetent way this government went about it. It can't be that hard to determine rates and then announce them.  

[eliotness]

Was in a certain hotel in Bangkok 2 weeks ago. A small Thai beer was 250 baht, a bottle of non-vintage blended wine (plonk) was 2,500 baht and 250+ a glass. The actual rooms were fully booked, vast majority Chinese, very few of whom drank in the bars or resteraunts. The wine waiter didn't even blink when I asked the price.  Farangs are there to be ripped off, but maybe rhey tgink we're all either rich or on business expenses.  To keep on the thread, I wonder what they are charging now !!!

[trihent]

As of this morning all of my local shops are still in a state of confusion as to what the various brands of cigarettes are supposed to cost. Wonder cigarettes (my brand) went from 63 baht a pack to 60 baht to as much as 89 baht per pack. The shop farthest from my house owned by a local policeman's family claim the the price went down 3 baht. While the closest one set the price at 70. The other local shops are all over the place in price range and have been changing it every day because the local wholesale folks can't figure out the Thai directives

[Get Real]

2 hours ago, inThailand said:

A complainer complaining about complaining! I guess that makes you a super expat.

I guess so. You must be right. I am a super expat. I just can accept things like they are, and let the people running it do thier job.
Seems to me that there is a belief in that there is mandatory to talk shit about the country you choose to live in all the time. 
To me that must be a terrible choise in life. Live in a place where you must complain about everything all the time.

I just go to the shop buy my beer and smokes. Pay what it costs and go home drinking and smoking. If that makes me a super expat, yes then you might consider me one.

[PETERTHEEATER]

7 hours ago, Thian said:

Fathers of families will still drink and smoke, now there's less money for the household and kids.

 

And people who stop smoking might get fat as a farang in the West, causing diabetic, high blood pressure and so on...So they'll buy bigger cars, produce more exhaust gases, more traffic jams, and so on.

 

On my flight to Thailand i had to sit next to a fat Indian who's belly was hanging over the armrest onto my space for 10 cm.....Then he even put his pumpui on my arm and a blanket over it....i complainted 3 times at te stewards but they couldn't do anything..fat pig he was...terrible.

Have I missed something? What has your third paragraph got to do with the topic?

[Thian]

1 hour ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Have I missed something? What has your third paragraph got to do with the topic?

That smokers are slimmer

[peterpaintpot]

Having lived here nearly 11 years I had got to grip with the incredibly stupid Thai taxation system for alcohol, that allowed poor Thais to kill themselves drinking"Thai Whiskey", known as Industrial Alcohol in the West, and treated all wines as luxury goods. And then things got worse and were completely impossible to understand, today I was in Tesco-Lotus, Pak Chong, and checked some prices: Sang Som - no change, South African Red Wine - no change, South African Sparkling Wine - no change. So God is still in His Heaven and all is well in the world, unless you are Rohinga, live in the West Indies, West Coast of America, Mexico, Yemen and numerous other places.

Good to know though that the Military have not destroyed Thainess. TIT.

[Seismic]

11 hours ago, Thian said:

And people who stop smoking might get fat as a farang in the West, causing diabetic, high blood pressure and so on...So they'll buy bigger cars, produce more exhaust gases, more traffic jams, and so on.

 

 

Not sure if you are aware but Diabetes is a huge problem in Thailand.

[petedk]

8 hours ago, tigermoth said:

Wine here is more than twice the cost than Australian prices and beer is almost the same cost. Spirits are also far more expensive here, even in the so called duty free at the airport, for instance a litre of Johnny Walker double black being about AUD$53.00 in Australian supermarkets and about $65.00 at the 'duty free' and here $78.00 in supermarkets. I suspect  If wine was a sensible price, maybe 40% less then the tax income on it would benefit the government far more than it does now.

Wow Please tell me where you can buy wine here for $78.00.

 

I have a few Australians dollars left but all the supermarkets I try won't accept them. They only accept Thai Baht.

[BwindiBoy]

17 hours ago, ezzra said:

Under any other normal circumstances i would agreed with the OP,

except that almost all governments around the the world have been

using these tax raises to fill up a shortfalls in revenues under the guise 

of doing a good thing for the people's health,

so expect more of the same to come, somebody has to pay for the big

boys toys costly mistakes and endlessly supporting the farmers

of this country.... 

That may be so, but the difference is other countries' governments know what they are doing and have calculated the consequences. The Thai government haven't got a clue, clearly.

[Rc2702]

I was thinking the tobacco companies might reduce their prices to 60 baht to help keep killing their clients

[BwindiBoy]

Well said. 

[The manic]

18 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

Fat Indians, fat everyone. The world is becoming fatter and more stupid by the day.

I think you mean fat Americans!

[The manic]

3 hours ago, BwindiBoy said:

That may be so, but the difference is other countries' governments know what they are doing and have calculated the consequences. The Thai government haven't got a clue, clearly.

UK. Brexit?

[BwindiBoy]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

UK. Brexit?

What's that got to do with multiple countries utilising tax increases? 

[The manic]

28 minutes ago, BwindiBoy said:

What's that got to do with multiple countries utilising tax increases? 

If you can't see the link you need to read the post I commented on. Try a bit harder please. If you still don't get it I'll explain it to you. Clue: other governments...consequences?

[wakeupplease]

Generals in control what else do you expect.

[BwindiBoy]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

If you can't see the link you need to read the post I commented on. Try a bit harder please. If you still don't get it I'll explain it to you. Clue: other governments...consequences?

The post you commented on was mine, which was commenting on ezzra's post - both of them related to governments increasing taxes. Stay on topic, son!

[The manic]

18 minutes ago, BwindiBoy said:

The post you commented on was mine, which was commenting on ezzra's post - both of them related to governments increasing taxes. Stay on topic, son!

I know it was yours. But whoever wrote it or read it should see the link between 'other countries' goverments and the consequence' and the UK government and the consequences of Brexit. In others words you premise is not entirely true. plenty of government make bad decisions without realising the consequences. It is not a problem unique to Thailand as you suggest. Wake up geezer!

[Thian]

22 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

Fat Indians, fat everyone. The world is becoming fatter and more stupid by the day.

But all fat people smell the same sir...did you ever sit next to Indians for many hours while you have to touch them without choice?

[BwindiBoy]

53 minutes ago, The manic said:

I know it was yours. But whoever wrote it or read it should see the link between 'other countries' goverments and the consequence' and the UK government and the consequences of Brexit. In others words you premise is not entirely true. plenty of government make bad decisions without realising the consequences. It is not a problem unique to Thailand as you suggest. Wake up geezer!

So you used both of your brain cells to pick out the sub topic and tried to turn the thread into an anti Brexit one and go off at a tangent from the main aspect of taxes? Desperate!!

[kiwiaussie]

22 hours ago, Orac said:

The UK have a similar system where excise taxes are announced in the budget, some with immediate effect and i don't hear a lot of complaints about them not leaking the details before hand.

 

My irony meter has gone into overdrive that someone is ranting about speculation being wildly  wrong on Thai Visa.

 

I think they got a semi literate barfly to write the article. But the TV punters moronically lap it up. 

 

The changes bought about for two main reasons. The old excise regime encouraged under reporting of production costs to minimise tax liability. The second reason is that the government needs more money, to pay for stuff ups for previous governments and the obviously have the money to fund their own (stuff ups that is).

 

Those who expect there to be cheap imported alcohol here are fooling themselves. A combination of religious influenced wowsers plus the inherent desire to protect local producers means that cheaper prices are a long way off. Move to France, or one of their former colonies in Indochina if you want cheap booze. 

 

And indeed, nothing unusual about the government not announcing the rates. It just would have led to pre announcement hoarding and the government would have lost out on those tax payments.

 

there have been some transitional problems with the calculation of the tax, but officals have been taking meetings with customs and the MOF for weeks given it they are at the front line of duty and excise calculation for imports. 

Edited September 21, 2017 by kiwiaussie

[The manic]

1 hour ago, BwindiBoy said:

So you used both of your brain cells to pick out the sub topic and tried to turn the thread into an anti Brexit one and go off at a tangent from the main aspect of taxes? Desperate!!

I was trying to be agreeable but reminding you that your anti Thai mini rant was not founded in logic. Many governments make doubtful decisions with realising the consequences. I gave Brexit as an example but I am not anti Brexit. Calm down please. Your use of gratuitous insults is graceless and says a lot about you. What it says is not very complimentary. Get some sleep. Take care now.

Edited September 21, 2017 by The manic