Ministry mulls "Salt Tax" as kidney disease cases rocket

[webfact]

Picture: Snook

 

The worrying amount of salt, sugar and fat in Thai food - and their snacking habits at 7-Eleven and other stores - are in the news again.

 

The prevalence of sugar has been the subject of some attention but now the government are turning to salt.

 

Sanook reported that the Ministry of Finance were considering proposing a "Salt Tax" with moves over the next year to lower sodium in the Thai diet to meet WHO guidelines.

 

MoF minister Arkhom Termphitthaya was speaking at a seminar addressing sodium in the Thai diet.

 

He said that diabetes, high blood pressure and the resulting kidney problems were all serious in Thailand. 

 

It was important to target the amount of sugar, fat and salt in the diet of the Thai people.

 

He said that a Sugar Tax had already been formulated but now salt was the target. 

 

He noted that the ill health of the Thai people when it comes to the intake of sodium is causing a huge financial strain on the health service.  

 

He said that in the coming months moves would be made to press producers to lower the salt content of their products  and campaigns would be mounted to persuade restaurants and families to use less.

 

He admitted this would take time and another official told the media that this initial phase would take six months to a year to accomplish.

 

The target is to lower Thai's salt intake initially by 20% from 3,600 miligrams per day to 2,800.

 

Then subsequently try and limit intake to 2,000 miligrams daily to meet World Health organization guidelines. 

 

ASEAN NOW notes that Thai food has an understandable high reputation and love throughout the world. 

 

But as many Thais would attest, it just doesn't taste right until there is plenty of sugar and salt in it to provide the "rot chart" (flavor).

 

Thai tastes may well have to change through education and gentle pressure before the disastrous consequences of diseases like diabetes - rampant in Thailand - are more properly addressed. 

 

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[ThailandRyan]

Really? No way Thais don't eat sugary or salt filled foods who are they trying to kid. Nope diabetes is not a problem either. Praying at the Wat they give all those salty sugary foods and high sugar drinks to just the monks...Salt Tax, sounds like New York City a few years back.

 

Sarcasm in my post.

Edited November 27, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[scubascuba3]

Considering thais don't sweat they need very little salt, personally with exercise i need 3 electrolytes a day plus salt on some food

[Artisi]

Sure collecting more taxes will fix the problem, but only in eyes of inept politicians. 

[Will B Good]

This will just mean Thais have less disposable income and the government will have more revenue to spend on tanks and APCs.

 

If they really want to improve health then they need to educate.......what am I thinking!

[Fat is a type of crazy]

When I have bought street food at markets  it is shocking when you see big spoons of salt, sugar, or mysterious black sauces that are full of salt and or MSG going into your food.

I find the average thai eats a different sort of thai food than I eat which isn't normally to western taste but and seems to have less bad stuff.

Maybe education rather than tax. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Fat is a type of crazy

[Will B Good]

8 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

When I have bought street food at markets  it is shocking when you see big spoons of salt, sugar, or mysterious black sauces that are full of salt and or MSG going into your food.

I find the average thai eats a different sort of thai food than I eat which isn't normally to western taste but and seems to have less bad stuff.

Maybe education rather than tax. 

Yes, there seems to be no correlation between what is sold in Thai restaurants in the west and what your average Thai tucks into.

 

Having said that, watching my wife cook the amount of sugar (not salt) that goes into her food is staggering.

[ThailandRyan]

2 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Yes, there seems to be no correlation between what is sold in Thai restaurants in the west and what your average Thai tucks into.

 

Having said that, watching my wife cook the amount of sugar (not salt) that goes into her food is staggering.

Yes, they either die young from disease or last a long time in a preserved state thanks to the pickling they give themselves.

[Gsxrnz]

The use of taxation (legalised and government endorsed theft) to incentivize an alteration in behavior is the equivalent of beating a child with a poker to achieve the same.

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, Gsxrnz said:

The use of taxation (legalised and government endorsed theft) to incentivize an alteration in behavior is the equivalent of beating a child with a poker to achieve the same.

So it will work?

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

The use of taxation (legalised and government endorsed theft) to incentivize an alteration in behavior is the equivalent of beating a child with a poker to achieve the same.

Yet it is done the world over isn't it?

[tonray]

I've given up trying to influence the GF's diet...cultural norms are hard to break. It used to be when we went out to a Thai restaurant, she would always ask me "Do you want rice ?" After I replied none for me thanks, she would mercilessly dump half a kilo on my plate so I guess she would feel less guilty eating it. Same for deep fried stuff....as much as I gently ask her not to buy extra and only purchase what she can eat...invariably my plate ends up with loads of fried stuff she brings into the house. Perhaps she believes there's an insurance policy with her the beneficiary ? She was upstairs taking a shower on Saturday when a driver shows up from Grab loaded with fried goodies and sticky rice, I questioned him as to whether he had the correct house but of course i knew in my heart he did.

[Will B Good]

Just now, tonray said:

I've given up trying to influence the GF's diet...cultural norms are hard to break. It used to be when we went out to a Thai restaurant, she would always ask me "Do you want rice ?" After I replied none for me thanks, she would mercilessly dump half a kilo on my plate so I guess she would feel less guilty eating it. Same for deep fried stuff....as much as I gently ask her not to buy extra and only purchase what she can eat...invariably my plate ends up with loads of fried stuff she brings into the house. Perhaps she believes there's an insurance policy with her the beneficiary ? She was upstairs taking a shower on Saturday when a driver shows up from Grab loaded with fried goodies and sticky rice, I questioned him as to whether he had the correct house but of course i knew in my heart he did.

OMG.......same, same.

 

My wife is a 'feeder'......a full English for me is two eggs, 5 rashers, 2 sausages, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, bread and butter (1/4" thick), tea and biscuits. She managed to get up to 90 kg before I realized she was trying to kill me.

 

 

[bendejo]

True grifting, always an eye out for more money.

 

 

 

[mahtin]

Stop refining it and the problem is solved.

[Gottfrid]

Hell Yeah! Just put a tax on it! It´s easier than educating people.

[trainman34014]

Many Moons ago i had a Thai Girlfriend that came to my place for Home Made Lunch and when coming to the table she asked where the salt pot was.  I told her i don't use salt and i don't keep any in the house and she said.... 'I don't eat food without salt', so i said... 'Well; you will have to eat somewhere else then !'   End of conversation and she ate the food but i didn't invite her again.

Edited November 27, 2021 by trainman34014

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Yes, there seems to be no correlation between what is sold in Thai restaurants in the west and what your average Thai tucks into.

Same for Chinese.

[khunPer]

Getting too little salt in a warm climate can be fatal, many doctors are criticizing WHO's 2 gram per day recommendation and earlier campaigns for lowering salt.

 

5-6 gram per day (5.8 gram) is the healthy recommendation, however it's said that many digest more salt than that - up to around 10 gram - and normally men intakes more salt than women.

 

Quote

Salt deficiency can occur when you for example play extremely hard sports where you sweat a lot. But also in case of illness with severe diarrhea and vomiting or if staying abroad under extremely high heat. In these situations, the body loses both a lot of fluid and salt, and therefore it may be necessary to add extra salt to the body. If the body lacks salt, it can react with muscle cramps, heart problems and maybe even collapse.

 

[johng]

1 hour ago, mahtin said:

Stop refining it and the problem is solved.

How will they lockdown the oceans  ?

[Will B Good]

1 hour ago, mahtin said:

Stop refining it and the problem is solved.

Stop refining it? How would that help?

[Sir Dude]

Taxation on such things is a blunt instrument. When you tax the likes of sugar/salt, then usually it's the poor that are being punitively punished as the richer people don't care and will continue to consume regardless. As has been said, education would be better but other issues are probably more important to the current lot in charge. Casually taxing things like this can help build up and stoke resentment from the pitchfork brigade... a more nuanced approach would be better.

Freedom is about choice and the more choice we have, then the freer we are. Why shouldn't people decide/choose to eat sugar or salt if they want to? Why should the majority without money be curtailed in their choice just because the puritan/killjoy brigade deem it to be appropriate? Everyone pays tax on most things they buy so whining about the cost isn't really okay... spend the generated tax better or cut corruption/waste.

As long as there is education and clear labeling on food/drink you buy, then leave people to decide their fate through their choices. How about making a law for manufacturers of food stuffs that require them to limit the amounts in their products instead?

Although, ideas like tax this or that are probably more likely to be about increasing lines of revenue as they are a bit broke currently. At the moment, Thailand is rapidly heading towards a bland joyless country where you can't really do much unless the barracks commander deems it so.

Yes, there are benefits to something like taxation on sugar/salt in the health perspective but there also the negatives to it too... it's called critical thinking.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Sir Dude
Typos

[KannikaP]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Considering thais don't sweat they need very little salt, personally with exercise i need 3 electrolytes a day plus salt on some food

Did you read the ingredients list on the electrolyte sachets?

[scubascuba3]

29 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Did you read the ingredients list on the electrolyte sachets?

Yep sounds good, all similar

[86Tiger]

 

 

What does the tax on salt have to be to actually have influence on decision to purchase or use?

 

I mean salt is dirt cheap, if you doubled the cost with 100% tax it would be insignificant to influence behavior.  At least for me, but what do I know.

[roquefort]

1 hour ago, Sir Dude said:

Yes, there are benefits to something like taxation on sugar/salt in the health perspective but there also the negatives to it too... it's called critical thinking.

Critical thinking...........now there's a phrase we don't see nearly enough in these forums. And not at all in the upper echelons of government (and I'm not just talking about Thailand).

[Mentors65]

Many years ago i read somewhere that the Northeastern part of Thailand is quite on the top in the world with kidney diseases.

So, nothing really new.

[mahtin]

2 hours ago, johng said:

How will they lockdown the oceans  ?

Every single cell and organism in your body is dependent upon minerals. Salt gets this terrible reputation, but it’s because it’s refined salt that has the bad health effects. But unrefined sea salt is just the opposite. It has potassium and calcium and magnesium and a full complement of minerals that your body needs to function properly.

 

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Many Moons ago i had a Thai Girlfriend that came to my place for Home Made Lunch and when coming to the table she asked where the salt pot was.  I told her i don't use salt and i don't keep any in the house and she said.... 'I don't eat food without salt', so i said... 'Well; you will have to eat somewhere else then !'   End of conversation and she ate the food but i didn't invite her again.

Well you are a charming host.

Thais don't usually have salt cellars on the table, but get salt from various sauces, from soy, prik-nam-pla, oyster sauce etc. I soon got her indoors to stop putting MSG in everything, and sugar into vegetables, but on top of salty stock powders, liberal helpings of those sauces sprinkled with gusto, it often makes things too salty for my taste. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by jacko45k

[Zozod]

Salt content is high in many foods here.  Whether it’s street food or something you buy at the store.  What’s funny is hearing people with high blood pressure wondering why they can’t lower it.