Amazing Thailand,how Do They Do It?

[jaideeguy]

Have been comming here fora couple of decades and have lived here for almost the last decade and i still can't figure it out.......

all the infrastructure projects going on, all over the country....bridges, hiways, power, water projects, airports and others and see that there is little [visable] taxation. most money is blackmarket cash [and please don't tell me that the 7% vat pays for it] .

In the west, we get taxed left and right, up to 40% of your dollar earned goes to uncle sam and in some respect the Thais have more and better public works.

So, could someone explain 'how they do it' in simple terms.

[samran]

I think the average tax collection here is slighly under 20% of GDP. For most OECD countries, it is higher than 30%.

Where does it come from?

- VAT is a big one (a big money spinner implemented and 'invented' by left of centre European governments)

- Income tax

- Royalties and excise charged on products

- Concession fees

- Soft loans from JBIC and increasingly, the Chinese.

- Tolls

- Tariffs on goods

- The bills you pay (electricity, water etc etc)

- Listings on the Thai stock exchange.

- Debt finance. Bonds or investment banks.

the usual....

[londonthai]

part of it would be foreign investments - I can imagine that even motorways, metro and BTS

[soundman]

They don't spend the ridiculous levels of money that many western countries do on social security.

[thaihome]

Have been comming here fora couple of decades and have lived here for almost the last decade and i still can't figure it out.......

all the infrastructure projects going on, all over the country....bridges, hiways, power, water projects, airports and others and see that there is little [visable] taxation. most money is blackmarket cash [and please don't tell me that the 7% vat pays for it] .

In the west, we get taxed left and right, up to 40% of your dollar earned goes to uncle sam and in some respect the Thais have more and better public works.

So, could someone explain 'how they do it' in simple terms.

Some interesting numbers from a recent Bangkok Post article on this subject.

"tax revenues account for 16% of gross domestic product on average, compared with an average 18% of GDP for developed Asian countries and 33% of GDP for industrialised countries. "

"Thailand remains overly dependent on corporate income tax to finance state spending, Dr Songtum said. Corporate tax rates are also relatively high at 30% compared with Singapore and Malaysia, affecting the country's ability to compete for foreign investment. "

It does not appear you have much understanding of the Thai economy or taxation in Thailand, even after a couple of decades here. Thailand has a GDP of some 8,000 billion baht, so there is about 1,500 billion baht in tax revenue. Lots of highly visible taxation going on.

TH

[Aussietraveller]

Thai tax collections higher than expected

The Finance Ministry’s revenue collection for the 2007 fiscal year is slightly higher than originally projected, as the stronger baht and political uncertainties have affected local consumption and investment, according to Permanent Secretary for Finance Suparut Kawatkul.

He said the government’s revenue earned for fiscal 2007 (October 2006-September 2007) totalled 1.45 trillion baht, up only 25.6 billion baht from the projected 1.42 trillion baht and a rise of 105.91 billion baht from the revenue collected in the previous fiscal year.

Bangkok post Article

[dave111223]

They are also not pouring their money into wars.

[bonviveur]

They are also not pouring their money into wars.

You can say that again, have you guys heard about the Petagon paying hafl a million dollars for a contractor to send a simple screw to Iraq. Halliburton charge 27 million for fuel that they paid $82,000 for no wonder the Pentagon could not pass a simple audit.

Thailand would of have universal health care if they had that kind of tax revenue we have in the US, it's nice to see a country doing the best they can with their tax revenue.

War is a money pit

[londonthai]

well, thai did have their fair share of wars - some with french over Laos in the 1930s and at the beginning of the 20th century they conquered the south from malaysia (and still fighting).

they have a large army which is ready to shoot peasants and workers if needed by the ruling class - same as the generals do in myanmar. Army and police as well as civil servants are the cushy jobs - unlike all the others they do have a pension and have huge bonuses in case of poor health.

[JonnieB]

also the cost of major infrastructure projects is much cheaper than in the west (labour costs mostly). what's the cost for a mile of highway in the states now...like tens of millions of dollars likely...in los...much much less.

[Donnyboy]

They don't spend the ridiculous levels of money that many western countries do on social security.

thats exactly correct

no real pension to speak of,

none of the numerous benefit payments for the sick, unemployed, unmarried mums, poor with no housing, et al.,

lower wage costs in goverment,

probably less costs in healthcare per capita,

my 2 cents.

ps NZ doesnt have any wars of any kind but they have high tax rates, gst, housing tax in the form of levies, et al for what?

to pay the above list. Its a big hand out down there, and some are taking advantage of it.

[soundman]

They don't spend the ridiculous levels of money that many western countries do on social security.

thats exactly correct

no real pension to speak of,

none of the numerous benefit payments for the sick, unemployed, unmarried mums, poor with no housing, et al.,

lower wage costs in goverment,

probably less costs in healthcare per capita,

my 2 cents.

ps NZ doesnt have any wars of any kind but they have high tax rates, gst, housing tax in the form of levies, et al for what?

to pay the above list. Its a big hand out down there, and some are taking advantage of it.

Could you imagine the Thai workforce if the same un-employment benefits were available as in NZ & Aussie for example?

50% un-employment would be a realistic figure in my opinion!

[ajarnmark]

well, thai did have their fair share of wars - some with french over Laos in the 1930s and at the beginning of the 20th century they conquered the south from malaysia (and still fighting).

they have a large army which is ready to shoot peasants and workers if needed by the ruling class - same as the generals do in myanmar. Army and police as well as civil servants are the cushy jobs - unlike all the others they do have a pension and have huge bonuses in case of poor health.

Well army in Thailand is no different than that of any other country. Thai army is NOT killing anyone, whereas US army DOES.

Killing a peasant in your country is same as killing millions of people in Vietnam, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, to name few?

War is probably the biggest reason as well as corruption in countries which lack infrastructure or development works.

[londonthai]

this army has killed 3k peasants since 2003 in the south.

if you look back in history, you will see that they killed many more

1941-1945 World War II; Thailand a Japanese ally, since 1942 part of axis

since 1959 communist insurgency till end of 90's with tens of thousands partisans, peasants as well as students escaping political repressions

1975-1979 border war with Kampuchea

1979-1988 border war with Vietnamese-occupied Cambodia

1987-1988 Thai-Laotian border clashes

during the vietnam war thailand assisted the usa army with airfields, manpower, logistics and inteligence in killing millions in Vietnam and Laos

those huge waste of resources/taxes would be much better spend in assisting poor with health and education.

[samran]

just a nice warning fellas.

Please feel free to start Thai army/US army discussions elsewhere.

Yours in lower miltary spending as a proportion of GDP,

Samran

Your friendly mod.