Thai govt mulls hiking tax on sugary drinks to fix country's sweet tooth

[webfact]

Govt mulls hiking tax on sugary drinks to fix country's sweet tooth
By Coconuts Bangkok



BANGKOK: -- The government is planning to force us to pay more if we want to consume unhealthy, sugary drinks for our own pleasure.

The National Reform Steering Assembly on Tuesday proposed a tax increase on sweet drinks, namely soft drinks, coffee, green tea, energy drinks, fermented milk, soy milk and juice.

The tax hike will increase the retail price of these drinks by 20 - 25 percent, depending on the amount of sugar. For beverages containing 6-10 grams of sugar per 100 millimeters, the council members proposed a tax that will increase the retail price by 20 percent.

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/04/27/govt-mulls-hiking-tax-sugary-drinks-fix-countrys-sweet-tooth


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2016-04-27

[clockman]

They need to do something, 1 in 10 is diabetic!

[leeneeds]

Western world problem heading this way

[FourAces]

Are they going to use the tax money for promotion and education on the health implications of excess sugar consumption?

Highly unlikely, most likely wind up in an offshore account of some high ranking minister.

[daveAustin]

Totally agree with this... now if they would just lower the tax on beer in-kind.

[Wilsonandson]

Yes, great idea, let's stop people getting fat. We want thin people, who don't smoke, don't drink, exercise regular, eat organic food, brush their teeth and live to 100 years old.

The world population is only nearly 7 billion people. With food shortages, drinking water shortages, more poverty, more famine, more drought, floods. We want everyone healthy and living to a ripe old age. By the time my kids are grown up they're will be 10 billion on the planet.

So, tax sugar

Tax alcohol

Tax cigarettes

Tax junk food

Encourage exercise

No wonder the worlds wildlife and animals is depleting. Too many humans taking all the resources.

[leeneeds]

Totally agree with this... now if they would just lower the tax on beer in-kind.

Well beer is good for your teeth,

[leeneeds]

Are they going to use the tax money for promotion and education on the health implications of excess sugar consumption?

Highly unlikely, most likely wind up in an offshore account of some high ranking minister.

A sugar daddy ?

[chainarong]

As I said in another blog in another country, the government can either tax or legislate, now if you legislate you set the guide lines for the max amount of sugar in products , that way everyone is healthy , if you tax , you just build up the government coffers of the backs of unhealthy people, a continuing cost to the country , now the question is, which would the un- elected government prefer..........................................

[Pib]

Purely to increase tax revenue under the banner of improving health...yea, right! Thais will continue to get excessive sugar through their deserts and foods where the great bulk comes from now.

The Thai govt sure loves excise taxes.

[Moonmoon]

Haha its not just the drinks. Ask any thai n they will say th3 food needs to be tasty! Over oily, overy spicy over salty. A balance taste is needed. I have had real good thai food that is very well balanced, but sadly alot of street food is not. If u go to a thai night market where locals buy food from. Its always alot of oily fried food. Also the small coffee stalls add alot of sugar in the iced coffees n teas nam daang soda as well. Water h20 is the best

[phka]

isn't that what the uk george osboun did recently, hope the thai goverment dont follow the uk down the road to disaster on other issues

[arithai12]

If almost all soft drinks include sugar (even milk!), I don't see how increasing their price is going to make a change.

[GanDoonToonPet]

Good. Hopefully this will stimulate demand for sugar-free drinks other than Coke. Diet Sprite, Diet Fanta etc & hopefully Tesco will bring in their own, 50B per 5L, brand...

[torpedo1970]

I totally agree on this

After my Thai GF came with me to visit Europe, she was amazed about how good things could actually taste without adding a huge amount of sugar, after that she also somehow got a little obsessed about checking sugar content in things we buy when shopping food. consequently a lot of things no longer get purchased due to too high sugar content.....

The other day when we went to 7/11 to get a snack and a drink, she picked up a small bottle (200 Ml) of fresh milk from foremost, i just as a joke asked if she had checked the sugar content......

"nah, it is just fresh milk", she said. But she checked, and bursted out WHAT?? the 200 ml of "fresh milk" contained 9 mg of sugar ??? she put the bottle back and got a bottle of water, but first checked for sugar content on it.....

Unbelievable!

TIT

[chowny77]

Haha its not just the drinks. Ask any thai n they will say th3 food needs to be tasty! Over oily, overy spicy over salty. A balance taste is needed. I have had real good thai food that is very well balanced, but sadly alot of street food is not. If u go to a thai night market where locals buy food from. Its always alot of oily fried food. Also the small coffee stalls add alot of sugar in the iced coffees n teas nam daang soda as well. Water h20 is the best

Sorry khap we have no water!

[dcnx]

Yea, that will solve the problem.

[FourAces]

As I said in another blog in another country, the government can either tax or legislate, now if you legislate you set the guide lines for the max amount of sugar in products , that way everyone is healthy , if you tax , you just build up the government coffers of the backs of unhealthy people, a continuing cost to the country , now the question is, which would the un- elected government prefer..........................................

Good post, However in a " Developing Country" where you have a scale of ultra wealth on one end where people can be worth multi billions of baht and on the other side of the scale, where people are struggling to live day by day.

The tax policy, with no education funds and no legislation will always win.

Even if they did pass some form of legislation it would never be followed to the letter if at all.

Welcome to Thailand.

[optad]

Without getting the kids to run around an oval, or seriously engage in personal exercise coupled with the absence of education re sugars, carbs and fatty additives scooping a taxing opportunity is just that, opportunistic. Has no longer term societal benefit.

[Ron19]

Totally agree with this... now if they would just lower the tax on beer in-kind.

Not likely, the main ingredient in beer is sugar.[emoji15]

Sent from my Lenovo A6010 using Tapatalk

[SABloke]

Retailers will be happ..20 Satang increase in tax equal 1 - 2 Baht increase at the till

[Pdavies99]

It would be nice to think that Thailand cares about the health of its people, sadly they could not care less.

[bluesofa]

Totally agree with this... now if they would just lower the tax on beer in-kind.

Well beer is good for your teeth,

I'm all for selective facts. Go on then, how is beer good for your teeth?

[Shaunduhpostman]

So, essentially, people would be fined by the government for a problem caused at least in part by government after government that has taken little to no interest in effectively promoting common sense in diet and health. Perhaps they need a huge new budget for a new set of diseased organ pics for next years cigarette packaging and for the cigarette blurring on all the new movies coming out. I noticed the other night the hands of guitar players in films are now being blurred out as well, so maybe that's it, they need funding for the battle in stopping people from taking up the guitar, which we all know leads to people taking up smoking cigarettes. Meanwhile, home plastic waste incineration, charcoal and brick baking operations can continue expanding and destroying peoples lungs before they reach age of 10 nationwide. Just need a way to charge people for the lung cancer they have contracted/caused and it too will be considered a problem.

Edited April 28, 2016 by Shaunduhpostman

[HenryB]

Western world problem heading this way

You can not blame sugar on USA EU England and Russia as very little is grown in those countries

I say lets go farther and ban the growing of Sugar little we do with Heroin and the Weed

[chainarong]

As I said in another blog in another country, the government can either tax or legislate, now if you legislate you set the guide lines for the max amount of sugar in products , that way everyone is healthy , if you tax , you just build up the government coffers of the backs of unhealthy people, a continuing cost to the country , now the question is, which would the un- elected government prefer..........................................

Good post, However in a " Developing Country" where you have a scale of ultra wealth on one end where people can be worth multi billions of baht and on the other side of the scale, where people are struggling to live day by day.

The tax policy, with no education funds and no legislation will always win.

Even if they did pass some form of legislation it would never be followed to the letter if at all.

Welcome to Thailand.

Your good point noted FourAces, my time so far in Thailand is about 36 years so a welcome isn't needed.

[Jingthing]

A similar program in MEXICO has produced limited positive results in slowing the rate of obesity. It's better than nothing. Another thing they should do right away is force large food companies to provide clear labeling and WARNING signs about the contents of products. If they go below unhealthy levels, they can skip the WARNINGS.

[donnybay]

What Happens to Your Body When You Drink a Can of Coke?

May 25, 2012 at 4:41am

By Wade Meredith from Blisstree.com

Have you ever wondered why Coke comes with a smile? Because it gets you high. They removed the cocaine almost 100 years ago. Why? Because it was redundant.

• In the first 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavour, allowing you to keep it down.

• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (And there’s plenty of that at this particular moment.)

• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate; your blood pressure rises; as a response, your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked, preventing drowsiness.

• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production, stimulating the pleasure centres of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

• > 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium, and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

• > 60 minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium, and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolytes, and water.

• > 60 minutes: As the rave inside you dies down, you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like hydrating your system, or building strong bones and teeth. This will all be followed by a caffeine crash in the next few hours. (As little as two if you’re a smoker.)

http://wakeup-world.com/2011/06/08/what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-drink-a-can-of-coke/