Govt Won’t Publish Salaries on ID Cards

[snoop1130]

Govt Won’t Publish Salaries on ID Cards
By Teeranai Charuvastra
Staff Reporter


Junta chairman and Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha (left) and his deputy, Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan (right), on April 17 visited an exhibition about national ID card registration at the Government House.

BANGKOK — A proposal to force citizens to state their careers and salaries on their national ID cards will not go forward, the military government said today, days after it was proposed by junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Three days after Gen. Prayuth’s off-the-cuff proposal to improve information gathering was widely ridiculed on social media during the weekend, Minister of Interior Affairs Anupong Paochinda today put the kibosh on the idea.

“Let me insist that salaries and professions will not be included on the ID card or in the microchip,” Gen. Anupong Paochinda said today.

The plan was first floated by Prayuth during his Friday show. Without going into detail, the general stressed the need for the state to collect information about its citizens, such as careers and salaries.

“I want to stress that by 2017, we should make this successful: National ID cards that indicate careers and salaries,” he said in comments broadcast to the nation. “Don’t be shy. You don’t have to be shy. Low income or high income, we’re all Thais. I want the government to differentiate and find out how to spend funds appropriately, because our revenue is still low.”

Full Story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1450089087

-- Khaosod English 2015-12-14

[Captain_Bob]

Oh-boy! How much does it cost to get a low/no-salary ID? I want one!

Bad news: Falang = No ID = millionaire! pay Tesco bill ;-)

Edited December 14, 2015 by Captain_Bob

[Gimbo]

My wife would get a kick out of that.
She lives in Scandinavia now, cleaning schools for the municipallity, and clearing 1.5 million baht a year on her 37.5 hours a week job. (A very modest sallary here).
So first stating her occupation, then her yearly income she would think is good sanook :-)

[Pib]

Whoops...sorry we brought up the subject...never mind...have a happy day. But standby for our next brilliant "you've got to be kidding me" recommendation.

[ikke]

He just won't get shy .......what a <deleted> ........

[trogers]

Aaagh...come on...

It would have been interesting to know that so-n-so is a maid with Bt12k salary owning Bt200m worth of shares in the stock market!

[JoeLing]

Maybe IQ and dick size too?
But suppose that's not on the agenda as
Big Brother would get 0 on both.

But if, I think his one would be overinflated like his ego.

Edited December 14, 2015 by JoeLing

[silverado]

one prayuth's brilliant idea a day , keeps the madness to stay

[phoenixdoglover]

Thailand, hub of trial balloon failures.

[coulson]

Was this on the road map? I think someone may be lost.....or enjoying the winding scenic route.

I hope those millions of social media critics arent arrested.

I also hope the rest of the world *understands* this was just a mistake.

[NCC1701A]

that was fast. must be a new record.

[shirtless]

Stop thinking out loud Prayut , got back to playing with your pistol,

[NongKhaiKid]

The govt may want that information but it has no place on an ID card.

A natural follow on to the previous suggestion that certain people should not be eligible to vote as they aren't responsible enough.

This thought was probably copied from Hong Kong where the Chief Executive beat LoS to it when he suggested anyone earning less than HK$13,000 a month shouldn't be eligible.

( Baht equivalent varies depending on exchange rate but somewhere in the 50,000 - 60,000 range currently covers it )

[webfact]

Don’t worry about details on ID cards, says Prayut
Wattana Khamchu,
Anapat Deechuay
The Nation


Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha shops for vegetables at a temporary market near Government House yesterday.

BANGKOK: -- PRIME Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha tried to play down public concern yesterday about his government’s plan to add details about people’s occupation and salary on national identification cards.

A public outcry has been growing since he revealed the plan on Saturday.

Many people have criticised the idea because of the potential for people to face discrimination on the basis of their financial status.

Prayut denied that the initiative, which he expects to take effect by 2017, would divide people according to financial status, insisting that it would instead bring many benefits and also reduce tax evasion.

"When such information is included on ID cards, low-income people will enjoy better access to government assistance such as free bus rides, free train rides and free [mass transit] rides," the PM said.

He also noted that it would be clear that low-income earners, such as those earning the Bt300 minimum daily wage, would not have to pay tax.

The prime minister said the initiative, on the contrary, would ensure those who need to pay taxes pay it properly.

"It is going to tackle tax evasion and improve tax collection," he said.

Prayut also made it clear that the extra information would not be displayed prominently on the ID cards, but stored in a microchip.

Interior Minister General Anupong Paojinda said the income information would be compiled, but not shown on ID cards.

"The government wants such information to help plan assistance for low-income people.

"We will study how this is implemented to ensure that it is not going to affect people's privacy in any way," he said.

Anupong said he had instructed the Interior Ministry's permanent secretary Grisada Boonrach to prepare necessary information so it is ready for implementation.

Meanwhile, the director of the Department of Provincial Administration's Registration Administration Bureau, Wichian Chidchanognarth, said ID cards could contain a lot of information.

He believed that when details from various authorities were linked via an ID-card database, people could access various public services just with their identity cards.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Dont-worry-about-details-on-ID-cards-says-Prayut-30274934.html


-- The Nation 2015-12-15

[thesetat2013]

Any information placed asked about on an application would ultimately be lied about by thais anyway. The rich would not show so good for fear of having to pay more. My Thai wife says she has seen thais joking about a comparison to Germany and Hitler now on this topic on Thai websites.

[lostinisaan]

.....http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/12/09/prayuths-thai-values-school-children-love-painting-hitler OMG.

Edited December 14, 2015 by lostinisaan

[cumgranosalum]

THis time the "dictum" was so daft, even the authorities couldn't see it through.

[metisdead]

Posts containing inappropriate language have been removed.

[Thian]

Salary on the id-card? Why not have ones interest-income on the card? Or a copy of the bankaccount (and also proof of legally made it).

What's the purpose of knowing ones salary?

[LannaGuy]

that's the greatest turnaround since Lazarus

Edited December 15, 2015 by LannaGuy

[konying]

I hate to be the one breaking the bad news, but even if it was to go ahead, it would fail miserably, considering they change jobs on monthly if not weekly basis

[spidermike007]

They decided that having a mid level customs official with a card that says 1.7 million baht a month might raise an eyebrow or two. Or the ted bull heir with the allowance of 10,000,000 baht per month. Or a police captain, at a low level precinct with a salary of 1.1 million a month. Or, or, or, or. Too much potential egg on the face. Better to keep this kind of thing a secret.

[DrTuner]

And the countdown for the next idiotic idea intruding into people's privacy starts in ... 9,8,7 ..

[DrTuner]

Salary on the id-card? Why not have ones interest-income on the card? Or a copy of the bankaccount (and also proof of legally made it).

What's the purpose of knowing ones salary?

To determine the correct height of the wai.

[English 1]

He keeps getting these daft ideas which are soon dropped!

[NovaBlue05]

His intellect is simply dizzying.......

[Kru Baa]

So what were all the bargirls and freelancers supposed to put down as their sallery? Jeeze this guy is an idiot.

[MZurf]

Salary on the id-card? Why not have ones interest-income on the card? Or a copy of the bankaccount (and also proof of legally made it).

What's the purpose of knowing ones salary?

To determine the correct height of the wai.

Exactly! Ever seen hi-so Thais get together for the first time and see how they struggle to get the pecking order straight? With this new breathtakingly brilliant ID card dreamt up by the "PM" each person just whips out his card an voila`, the grovelling can commence!

[steveyinasia]

This coming from the leader of the country and the leader of the military, Thailand is in deep trouble.

[konying]

He did not have a bad idea, but bad way to put it across. Read again, the idea was to have the info on the microchip. This means it is only accessible for relevant government agencies.

It is NOT a bad way to keep the statistics and know what your people are earning, even more so in a country where hardly anyone pays tax or has any office to register their skills or be licenced