Mae Sot Municipal Waits To Become Special Administrative Zone

[webfact]

Next economic boom site?

By Special report

By Peeradej Tanruangporn

The Nation

Mae Sot municipal waits to become a special administrative zone

Municipal bureaucrats expect implementation of a special administration zone at Mae Sot to help restructure taxes so they contribute more to public services and oversight of migrant workers.

They hope the change - backed by major political parties in the capital but yet to be approved - will boost the business revenue in the area from Bt2030 billion to Bt100 billion, and help turn Mae Sot into a model city.

Known as the "Gateway to Burma," the Mae Sot district is the primary land trade hub between Thailand and Burma.

Mae Sot's mayor Teardkiat Shinsoranan estimates the city's population at about 150,000 Thais, and over 350,000 Burmese and ethnic Karen. Tak border province altogether has roughly 320,000 Thais and 500,000 Burmese and Karen. Current organisation and management models are unable to handle such a high amount of trade and migrant workers, Teardkred said.

The roads of Mae Sot, he said, as an example, were worn down by heavy truck traffic but there was no tax system to help fund municipal repairs.

Mae Sot directly supported many industries in Bangkok so it should receive more money, he said. However, Teardkred expects Mae Sot to receive an more funding from the central government - over Bt1 billion, when it becomes a special administrative zone.

The lack of administrative capacity also meant it was easier for illegal migrants to travel through Mae Sot to other parts of the country, which was a big problem, Teardkred said.

The big number of migrant workers and trade also creates many associated costs such as waste collection and worker registration, said Chaiwat Vititamwong, provincial secretary of the Federation of Thai Industries in Tak.

"Our hospital cannot handle the number of patients," Teardkred said. Mae Sot Hospital services five districts bordering Burma as well as Burmese from cities across the border, where health services are among the worst in the world because the military government allocates so little to public health. Mae Sot Hospital receives 1,500 new patients a day, far over its capacity.

"If you go to the hospital, you will see the place is so packed with patients you can hardly find a place to sit," he said. Thousands more are treated at a clinic set up by the acclaimed Karen refugee, Dr Cynthia Maung.

Burmese logs and processed wood still manage to get smuggled into Thailand through illegal means, Teardkred added. He felt establishment of a special zone would help legalise such 'black' trade, and could be taxed.

"Currently, government policies are uncoordinated and not unified," the mayor said.

"Municipal and provincial officials all think and act on their own, with their limited budget," he complained.

As a result, no one was able to handle bigger problems that required bigger budgets and regional coordination.

Teardkred expects that implementation of a special administrative zone would help solve public problems, boost the economy, and improve regulation of three things: migrant workers, taxation, and coordination of policies.

Migrant workers, he said, could all be registered and prohibited from leaving the area. He expected the supply of labour to make the area attractive for investment.

Second, a new tax system would attract more central government support, and draw increased investment and exports, which would help improve public services.

Lastly, the coordination of local, regional, and national officials would allow toplevel policies to be tweaked when it was deemed suitable.

Technically, two special zones are proposed - a Special Local Administrative Zone and a Special Economic Zone.

Teardkred described the former as designed to draw input from local and regional actors, while the latter was designed to draw on nationallevel inputs. With overlapping work, officials for overseeing both aspects would have to collaborate with each other.

Mae Sot municipality's website notes that the House of Representatives last met on April 4, to read and correct details in a draft law in create these bodies. Involved parties are now waiting for the new government to finalise the bill.

"Both Thaksin and Abhisit's governments agreed to this project," said Chaiwat, who hoped that Yingluck's administration would also support it.

-- The Nation 2011-08-15

[apetley]

'known as the gateway to Burma'

That's a bad joke as the border crossing has been closed for over a year now.

Solve this small problem and the local economy will start to get back on its feet.

[nong38]

Agreed, first thing needed is open the border, what is the point of banging on about trade when the border is shut. To much say and not enough do.

[bushwacker]

I think the first thing that must be done is get a new budget/economist. Because if you are hoping it ..."will boost the business revenue in the area from Bt2030 billion to Bt100 billion," then you are in serious shit.

:jap:

[Jdietz]

Every time the Nation posts an article online it becomes breaking news here, minus the dashes.

It's the web scraper they use that messes up dashes. Read it as 20-30B.