Thai Govt Thinks Again On Car Rebates, Civil Service Incomes

[webfact]

Govt thinks again on car rebates, civil service incomes

By The nation

Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala has indicated the government will extend its first-car scheme to include imported cars, in order to avoid an accusation of trade protectionism.

"We have to comply with a national treatment principle of the World Trade Organisation [WTO], so I have consulted with the Commerce Ministry to review the measures," Thirachai said during a tele-press conference from Washington yesterday.

The review of the original plan, which offered tax rebates of up to Bt100,000 for first-time car buyers, would be made - but car prices will be still capped at Bt1 million. He said he had not yet looked at a proposal to extend the measure to cover larger cars with a cylinder capacity of up to 1,600 cc. He may propose this to tomorrow's Cabinet meeting.

Deputy Finance Minister Viroon Tejapaibul said he would propose this week that the Cabinet slightly increase the monthly allowance for those who have a monthly income of Bt15,000. The move comes after the Cabinet last week approved the raising of monthly incomes of civil servants who hold a bachelor degree to Bt15,000. The government was criticised as implementing unfair treatment to those who hold higher degrees and earned a little more than Bt15,000.

-- The Nation 2011-09-26

[FOODLOVER]

No take backs!

[siampolee]

Just how many faces do the members of this administration have one wonders?

[hammered]

It is quite interesting that on seeing the headline I thought the government were scrapping the two policies but when I read the article it was nothing of the sort but additional policies or extensions of the policies and the two previous decisions were not being rethought at all

[aussiebebe]

It just gets worse and worse. If government is rethinking anything, then this policy should be used to change people's buying habits and reduce dependency on foreign oil. It should only cover fuel efficient 'eco'-cars and single cab pickups (for work) manufactured or assembled in Thailand. Small cars such as the Nissan March with +20km/litre economy are what's required, not some arbitrary limit on capacity or price. Bizarrely, other fuel efficient cars such as the Prius will be excluded (1.8l engine) and NGV cars (Thailand has domestic NGV) aren't being promoted.

Thais will use this scheme to buy predictable Honda and Toyota saloon-fodder and then convert them to run on imported, subsidized LPG when fuel prices begin to bite. Great.

[OzMick]

PTP seem to have thought up their election promises during an all-night booze session. And they obviously aren't real good at handling alcohol!

Such minor problems as protectionism, pay-scale relativities, enforcing pay scales on the private sector, or even simply if they were practical or affordable never entered the discussion - the dominating factor was "will this be popular with the hoi-polloi."

Edited September 26, 2011 by OzMick

[rubl]

Deputy Finance Minister Viroon Tejapaibul said he would propose this week that the Cabinet slightly increase the monthly allowance for those who have a monthly income of Bt15,000. The move comes after the Cabinet last week approved the raising of monthly incomes of civil servants who hold a bachelor degree to Bt15,000. The government was criticised as implementing unfair treatment to those who hold higher degrees and earned a little more than Bt15,000.

No surprise there. I mentioned this possible effect long time ago, last week I think

When you adjust a salary scale which is based on year-in-service, expertise, year-in-rank, career training progress, etc., etc. you cannot just increase the lowest scale without effecting, annoying and slightly insulting people in other scales. All scales might have to be adjusted with decreasing (percentage) size of adjustment the higher up you go the scales. Seems logical, at least to me

[animatic]

Just how many faces do the members of this administration have one wonders?

This missed the top and bottom ones.

The top face talks to the ether and is general silent,

the bottom one on the other hand is the main orifice of communication Politicians in Thailand.

Now that the election is won, more thoughtful voices are showing up with verifiable facts about byproducts and side effects of the announce policies, and those 'rushed to be announced' ways of implementation, announced before thinking it ALL the way through of course.

Hey, we need a sound bite today. Go say something, to counteract yesterdays something you said.

Edited September 26, 2011 by animatic

[rogerdee123]

They should come up with some kind of combination ....

I mean if one can qualify for the minimum 15,000 baht salary, and also sell their paddy for the Govt guaranteed price, and also buy a new car and qualify for the 100,000 baht rebate .... they will qualify for tax free status for buying and selling shares and their name will be put into the draw to buy public land at 20% of it's true value and receive one "Get out of Jail Free" pass.

[ginjag]

PTP seem to have thought up their election promises during an all-night booze session. And they obviously aren't real good at handling alcohol!

Such minor problems as protectionism, pay-scale relativities, enforcing pay scales on the private sector, or even simply if they were practical or affordable never entered the discussion - the dominating factor was "will this be popular with the hoi-polloi."

quote- PTP seem to have thought up their election promises during an all-night booze session. And they obviously aren't real good at handling alcohol!

couldn't agree more----more like a chimps tea party....hollow heads-(is there anyone there)--what a shambles-all decisions made without thought---but the old saying ( ya can't put nowt where there int nowt)---