PM Yingluck warns of tough action against tax payment refusal

[Thai at Heart]

What's next? Is she going to declare that the 2.2 trillion speedo train (going north/south, by coincidence) is not primarily aimed at bolstering China's commercial grip on Thailand?

Alas the 2.2 trillion loan is for a high speed rail system that goes from Nakorn Ratchasima to Hua Hin via Bangkok and will be as much use to China as Thomas the Tank Engine

Figure it out: all major Thai infrastructure investment is for rail and highways going north/south. China is north, Thailand is south. Highways and rail connect with same from other countries. Is it a coincidence that Chinese leaders are busily meeting with Chinese-Thai leaders of Thailand, and Chinese are pushing hard for the north/south connections. The Shinawatres cannot say 'no', even if it bankrupts the country.

You are forgetting that the try/ptp political families out in the provinces are licking their lips at how much money they are going to make out of this development.

They don't care how it gets done and are quite happy that it's Chinese money. I know for a fact that families are fronting investors from Hong Kong already to develop stuff.

[Robby nz]

Strange when she is trying to reverse the tough action taken against her brother when he refused to pay tax.

And yes Thai at heart that word "suspended" slipped out, every so often we get the truth.........by mistake.

[thaicbr]

ummm i think many middle class Thais on the whole are on a lot more than 50k a month.

All will have 1 or 2 cars, Family home etc pretty much the same as the UK. Most i know have more money than me (not hard, i'm only an English teacher) i would consider myself lower middle class financially.

[Thaddeus]

So basically, I would wager that an awful lot of the people moaning and bitching that their tax money isn't being spent responsibly, are actually not paying what they should be anyway.

A few years ago the Visa rules were changed and getting an extension based on marriage had to be obtained by paying tax on earnings.

I went to the Tax Office with a good Thai friend who knew the ropes, filled in the forms declaring that my wife was earning 40k a month, and then claimed for every deduction possible, there were quite a few, I remember one was having a child of school age, and the absolute corker, having a husband that was unemployed.

Calculators came out and the totting up started, when they were finished my friend said 2,500 Baht, when I got the use of my mouth back, I said "No, no, for the whole year not just a month" ....... he simply replied "That is for the whole year"

It's highly unlikely that my friend is the only Thai that knows the ropes.

[nong38]

Firstly I will tell my brother and will get tough if I have to send any of new handbags and shoes back. Refusal to pay taxes never happened in Isaan!

[boomerangutang]

It's telling that there are virtually no real estate taxes in Thailand - none outside cities, anyway. And it's no surprise that many who own large tracts, besides being absentees, are rich politicians. They like hoarding land as much as they like not paying a satang of tax on it.

The Shinawatres are among the top land-owning families in Thailand. They're also responsible for covering those vast properties with concrete and asphalt, which doesn't do any good for flooding problems further down the slope.

[Soutpeel]

ummm i think many middle class Thais on the whole are on a lot more than 50k a month.

All will have 1 or 2 cars, Family home etc pretty much the same as the UK. Most i know have more money than me (not hard, i'm only an English teacher) i would consider myself lower middle class financially.

No no...This is just not possible TV's resident experts will tell you that all Thai,s earn between 5 and 15k/m, live in a THB 2000/m room ride a motocy made for 4 and eat leaves from the side of the road....its just not possible that middle class Thai,s are better off than most resident farangs

[Ricardo]

I wonder whether the faux-PM might care to clarify, is it 'rebellion' or merely 'treason', to be a day or two late in paying one's tax-bill ?

And how soon might the average Thai person expect the storm-troopers to appear, on his/her doorstep, in accordance with her orders ?

[mrtoad]

ummm i think many middle class Thais on the whole are on a lot more than 50k a month.

All will have 1 or 2 cars, Family home etc pretty much the same as the UK. Most i know have more money than me (not hard, i'm only an English teacher) i would consider myself lower middle class financially.

No no...This is just not possible TV's resident experts will tell you that all Thai,s earn between 5 and 15k/m, live in a THB 2000/m room ride a motocy made for 4 and eat leaves from the side of the road....its just not possible that middle class Thai,s are better off than most resident farangs

I would imagine from some of the nonsense posted here that there are very few income tax paying Farangs on this forum .

[kimamey]

People should believe the government!!!!- ha ha ha

Up till now government has been very honest??

Now the senate have voted against the amnesty and the government has said they won't try to push it through later so in theory the protests should stop. I can see why there is suspicion though. The government promised justice for the victims in 2010 but then decided a blanket amnesty was more important so whatever the reason for that they broke a promise.

[MAJIC]

Incredible assessment,and action, of how not to handle a peoples revolt.

The people are on the streets because they do not want the Constitution changed in favour of the PMs Brother receiving an Amnesty,who is controlling "his" Government, and her as his "clone" Prime Minister,and a Government pushing for the changes to be forced through.

But all the Government and Yingluck can talk about is tough action onTaxes for the same people protesting on the streets,a classic example of a self inflicted shot in the foot!

[GeorgeO]

Police said employers are allowed to file lawsuits against employees for refusing to work. An offender is subject to the maximum jail term of three years or a fine of Bt6,000, or both.

So that would mean that if someone wanted to quit their job and go somewhere else the employer is able to sue them for refusing to work for them.

No.

I am assuming that the statement refers to a work slowdown while receiving a salary.

Call out sick and get a Dr's note and you are covered for 3 days. Nothing can be done about that. Quit and you are safe but cannot claim severance pay. But to accept a salary while failing to perform your duties .... that is sketchy legally.

and the penalty would be ...?

Such a person would probably lose their job and have the appropriate amount deducted from their final month's pay ... they certainly wouldn't find themselves facing a judge with some far-fetched possibility of a three-year jail term...!!

BTW, if someone is suing someone, then a successful outcome generally leads to a monetary gain; how does this government manage to mix the civil and criminal systems together to come up with a three-year jail term as a result of a law suit?? They are simply making this stuff up as they go along...!!

Edited November 14, 2013 by GeorgeO