Thailand to abolish hefty import tariff on wine

[sambum]

6 hours ago, ozz1 said:

I'll believe it when i see it

 

Ditto! A reduction of 50% was talked about a few years ago, but came to nothing,

 

Mind, it will be very nice if it happens as I have a medical condition that means I have to avoid carbonated drinks (beer/lager, soda water etc) so my main alcoholic drink of choice is wine, and in many bars even a glass of house wine is almost twice the price of a bottle of beer!

[sambum]

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Wonder how the taxman is going to claw the lost revenue back ,as you

never get any freebies from the taxman ,might give it out with right hand

and take it back with the left.....

 

regards worgeordie

Put it on cigarettes and tobacco products!

[dinsdale]

2 hours ago, BenStark said:

 

The law actually exists since 1972m but I think it didn't get much enforced before the Thaksin era, and it got lifted in 2022, but only for hotels

 

https://vino-joy.com/2022/06/30/thailand-lifts-50-year-old-booze-ban/

 

2004 Thaksin enforced it. I had just got here. I couldn't believe it. The reasoning was to stop school children from buying alcohol between the hours of 2-5pm. Of course the midnight to 11:00 ban was also enforced at this time. It's just insane and inconvenient. Directly behind my closest 711 is a mom and pop shop. Beer is actually cheaper there and if I feel like a beer at 10 in the morning I can do just that.

[placnx]

5 hours ago, huangnon said:

 

Thailand has an actual 'vineyard' just out of Rayong province, called "Silverlake" , producing basically cooking wine at extortionate prices.

Given that the heat and humidity here does not produce anything near a decent wine grape, this place (owned by some Thai billionaire elite) serves the illusion that Thailand has it's own "wine industry" that needs protection against evil foreign competition.

I think there are other vineyards scattered around Thailand doing the same thing. If any of them manage to produce anything of note, please update.

How about this:

https://www.vivino.com/US/en/chateau-de-loei-chenin-blanc-white-wine-v-wouuk/w/1693813

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thailand/loei-province/phu-reua-national-park/attractions/chateau-de-loei/a/poi-sig/1175331/357706

Also:

https://www.khaoyaiwinery.com/

I haven't tried any Thai wine recently.

[sambum]

1 hour ago, Nickcage49 said:

Well glory be! I never thought I'd see the day.

 

You ain't seen it yet! "The cheque's in the post" etc etc!

[Will B Good]

Prices will remain the same....tax take will reduce and the likes of CP will make even more profit.....pure genius.

[sambum]

"To make up for the lost tax revenue, they're going to have to rely on increased consumption."

 

Count me in on that one! 

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, BenStark said:

 

The law actually exists since 1972m but I think it didn't get much enforced before the Thaksin era, and it got lifted in 2022, but only for hotels

 

https://vino-joy.com/2022/06/30/thailand-lifts-50-year-old-booze-ban/

 

 

So in fact the article could say that, but didn't. Misleading article with half-truths. Which is poor journalism.

[sambum]

And I presume that the photo of a tuk tuk has something to do with the stupid laws on advertising alcohol?

[Will B Good]

The slum dwellers of Khlong Toei will be kicking off big time tonight at this news.....party on.

[proton]

23 minutes ago, placnx said:

How about this:

https://www.vivino.com/US/en/chateau-de-loei-chenin-blanc-white-wine-v-wouuk/w/1693813

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thailand/loei-province/phu-reua-national-park/attractions/chateau-de-loei/a/poi-sig/1175331/357706

Also:

https://www.khaoyaiwinery.com/

I haven't tried any Thai wine recently.

 

Bought some Thai wine at a few OTOP fairs, hardly wine at all and did not even finish one bottle, quite disgusting. One did not the % on it but the seller claimed it was 17%! It was more like 9%.

[MrJ2U]

Good thing.

 

Definitely ridiculously high tariffs.

 

  It's not right when your cheap bottle of wine costs more than the entire dinner. 

[ChipButty]

I wouldn't mind a nice bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pape at 50% off 

[ukrules]

6 hours ago, Orient Express said:

Exactly.

 

The same article states: "It comes after the governemnt [sic] introduced a series of relaxations on booze sales. In 2022, it lifted a five-decade-long ban on alcoholic beverage sales in the afternoon between 2 and 5pm."

 

Yeah, that didn'thappen did it. I went to stock up on Cognac a few weeks back and the whole alcohol section at Gourmet Market was closed off during the prohibition hours.

 

Not planning on drinking any of the stuff for days as I already had some left I couldn't help but feel the rule is somehwat returded.

[ChipButty]

2 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

Good thing.

 

Definitely ridiculously high tariffs.

 

  It's not right when your cheap bottle of wine costs more than the entire dinner. 

I remember going to a nice new restaurant in Phuket town no complaints the food was good, but I thought I would have a glass of wine it was 250 baht a glass for cheap plonk, half a glass I should say, 

[Dr B]

7 hours ago, Henryford said:

 

So the wine tax will ONLY be 200%, thanks for nothing.

Perhaps you need help with the arithmetic. If the total tax was 250%, then the sale price was 350% of the initial cost. A reduction of 40% of the final price would then be 40% of 350% = 140%. That leaves the final cost at 210% of the initial cost, or a new tax at 110% instead of 250%. Does that sound better?

[Toby1947]

All for it as long as we don't get that French sh*the over here 😂

[scottiejohn]

12 minutes ago, Dr B said:

Perhaps you need help with the arithmetic. If the total tax was 250%, then the sale price was 350% of the initial cost. A reduction of 40% of the final price would then be 40% of 350% = 140%. That leaves the final cost at 210% of the initial cost, or a new tax at 110% instead of 250%. Does that sound better?

Any chance of rewriting that with an example based on the cost of an actual  bottle of wine at present (1000Baht!) and what the changes will mean in the real world!

[xylophone]

7 hours ago, huangnon said:

 

Thailand has an actual 'vineyard' just out of Rayong province, called "Silverlake" , producing basically cooking wine at extortionate prices.

Given that the heat and humidity here does not produce anything near a decent wine grape, this place (owned by some Thai billionaire elite) serves the illusion that Thailand has it's own "wine industry" that needs protection against evil foreign competition.

I think there are other vineyards scattered around Thailand doing the same thing. If any of them manage to produce anything of note, please update.

There is also one not far from Hua Hin which is supposed to produce good wine, so a friend and I visited it and undertook a small wine tasting before deciding to buy any of its wine. Well, according to write-ups, I expected great things, but alas this was not to be, because the wine was about 4 (if that) on a scale of 10, so wasn't worth bothering with, although it was supposedly their flagship wine, a Syrah/Shiraz!

 

There is also one a little south of Chiang Rai, which I meant to call into when I was passing by, but completely forgot. Having said all of that, I have yet to taste a good Thai wine, and even though Night Black Horse imports grape juice from overseas in order to ferment and bottle it here (I believe) it certainly wouldn't replace any of my regular wine here, because the quality just isn't there.

 

PS. Forgot to mention that the Thai wine at the Hua Hin vineyard was priced upwards of 700 baht some 9 yrs ago......far too expensive for what it was.

[Dr B]

6 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Any chance of rewriting that with the cost of an actual or fictional cost of a bottle of wine at present and what the changes will mean in the real world!

Just for you. If a bottle originally cost Bt 200, it would have sold for Bt 700. With a 40% reduction in price it will sell for Bt 420. The 350% tax and the 40% reduction in final price are from earlier posts and not my figures.

[ChasingTheSun]

So the GREAT NEWS is now clarified that the monetary value of all assets(stocks, bonds, cash, homes etc) held as of December 31 2023 overseas will NOT be taxed if ever remitted to Thailand at a later date? 

[Walker88]

I'll repeat what I always write about wine.

 

If actually enacted, this will have impact almost exclusively on cheaper wines, such as supermarket wines, Wine Connection wines, etc. Higher quality wines will see minimal to no impact, as they have never gone through Customs where the actual cost was declared. Solaia and Sassicaia get declared as a couple hundred baht plonk.

 

If someone is from the US, and you drink better quality wines, you are unlikely to see any price difference. Something like $30+ Italian wines (e.g., il Bruciato, Le Volte) cost the same in Thailand as in the US. I've even seen some more expensive wines (e.g., Fattoria Le Pupille Saffredi~$125) priced at a Thai restaurant at the same price I pay retail in the US.

 

Folks from the EU or maybe Australia might notice some price difference, but it will be minor, unless it's a 300 baht wine.

[scottiejohn]

57 minutes ago, Dr B said:

Just for you. If a bottle originally cost Bt 200, it would have sold for Bt 700. With a 40% reduction in price it will sell for Bt 420. The 350% tax and the 40% reduction in final price are from earlier posts and not my figures.

I will try and ask again in even simpler terms and hopefully someone might give a simple answer, if there is one available, as there are so many percentages and figures bandied about!

"If a bottle of wine costs 1000Bht to a customer before the announcement of the tax reduction what should it cost after the change in taxation to that same customer from the same store?" (I am assuming that the seller passes on the price reduction!)

 

 

 

 

[dinsdale]

39 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

I'll repeat what I always write about wine.

 

If actually enacted, this will have impact almost exclusively on cheaper wines, such as supermarket wines, Wine Connection wines, etc. Higher quality wines will see minimal to no impact, as they have never gone through Customs where the actual cost was declared. Solaia and Sassicaia get declared as a couple hundred baht plonk.

 

If someone is from the US, and you drink better quality wines, you are unlikely to see any price difference. Something like $30+ Italian wines (e.g., il Bruciato, Le Volte) cost the same in Thailand as in the US. I've even seen some more expensive wines (e.g., Fattoria Le Pupille Saffredi~$125) priced at a Thai restaurant at the same price I pay retail in the US.

 

Folks from the EU or maybe Australia might notice some price difference, but it will be minor, unless it's a 300 baht wine.

Ahhh! Ok. Please elucidate. I can guarantee you that the cost of Australian wines here is far, far higher here than in Aus. Maybe you can explain why this is?

[dinsdale]

56 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

I will try and ask again in even simpler terms and hopefully someone might give a simple answer, if there is one available, as there are so many percentages and figures bandied about!

"If a bottle of wine costs 1000Bht to a customer before the announcement of the tax reduction what should it cost after the change in taxation to that same customer from the same store?" (I am assuming that the seller passes on the price reduction!)

 

 

 

 

It's a very good question. From the article...

"According to the government spokesperson, import tariffs on wines, which currently stands at 54% and 60% of declared value, will be abolished indefinitely. Additionally, the excise tax on wine will also be lowered from 10% to 5% of its price."

A Bt1000 baht bottle would have a declared value of around Bt500ish minus bt25 in excise tax = Bt475ish. I could be and more than likely am way off the mark (maths isn't exactly a strong point of mine) but I do hope I'm right though.

EDIT: No I'm wrong> I've got a headache trying to work this out. I think more likely around Bt650-bt700. That will still be good though for some decent red wine.

[sirineou]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Buying wines in Thailand is going to get much cheaper

Yeyyy!! 

[dinsdale]

15 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

It's a very good question. From the article...

"According to the government spokesperson, import tariffs on wines, which currently stands at 54% and 60% of declared value, will be abolished indefinitely. Additionally, the excise tax on wine will also be lowered from 10% to 5% of its price."

A Bt1000 baht bottle would have a declared value of around Bt500ish minus bt25 in excise tax = Bt475ish. I could be and more than likely am way off the mark (maths isn't exactly a strong point of mine) but I do hope I'm right though.

EDIT: No I'm wrong> I've got a headache trying to work this out. I think more likely around Bt650-bt700. That will still be good though for some decent red wine.

My reasoning behind this is as follows. Let's make the bottle at point of sale now Bt1050. Let's make the import tarrif 50% of declared value. Declared value would be Bt700. Tariff would then be Bt350. Minus Bt35 excise from Bt700 and you get Bt665. How's my reasoning and maths? What do you think? Of course the tariff being higher than 50% the price will be reduced further.

[Surasak]

4 hours ago, Chongalulu said:

Well that’s exactly what happens; double the price of something and demand / sales drops significantly. Here,wine is significantly overpriced (about double the UK price for an Australian example ) so I don’t drink it (or extremely rarely) so net tax intake is nil. Reduce the taxes and I (and many others) will drink more. There’s basically a curve (like the Laffer curve) where the tax rate optimizes the total tax take. Thailand is way past the top of the curve on the downward slope so shooting itself in the foot.

Shooting one's self in the foot is a favourite pass time in Thailand. They are fast approaching, if not past, shooting themselves in both feet at the same time.

[Mark Nothing]

This is the new way to say wine prices will be increased.

[Peterphuket]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

There is also one not far from Hua Hin which is supposed to produce good wine, so a friend and I visited it and undertook a small wine tasting before deciding to buy any of its wine. Well, according to write-ups, I expected great things, but alas this was not to be, because the wine was about 4 (if that) on a scale of 10, so wasn't worth bothering with, although it was supposedly their flagship wine, a Syrah/Shiraz!

 

There is also one a little south of Chiang Rai, which I meant to call into when I was passing by, but completely forgot. Having said all of that, I have yet to taste a good Thai wine, and even though Night Black Horse imports grape juice from overseas in order to ferment and bottle it here (I believe) it certainly wouldn't replace any of my regular wine here, because the quality just isn't there.

 

PS. Forgot to mention that the Thai wine at the Hua Hin vineyard was priced upwards of 700 baht some 9 yrs ago......far too expensive for what it was.

Not to mention you also have to pay these days to take a few steps among the grapevines.
Last time, I turned right around.