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Bangkok Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Towns and businesses must adapt: academics
Kasetsart University academics say geopolitics and Thailand-Cambodia border tensions have reminded Thais of the need to "prepare for a rainy day". During the "War of Powers: From Poipet Ridge to the Middle East Desert" seminar, organised by KU Radio Thailand recently, academics from Kasetsart University pondered how the Middle East conflicts, the rising oil prices and border trade, and the Thailand-Cambodia border tensions, will shape a new political and economic reality of all Thais. Speaking on the heated stand-off at the border between Thai and Cambodian troops in recent months, Asst Prof Lalita Hanwong said the fire had been fanned on social media by "urbanites" happy to "leave locals at the border to bear the true costs of danger and suffering". Assist Prof Lalita, from the Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kasetsart University, and an adviser to the House of Representatives' Committee on National Security, Border Affairs, National Strategy and Country Reform, referred to nationalism as "a tool driving pride to the edge". She mentioned the 2003 arson attacks on the Thai Embassy and Thai shops and businesses in Phnom Penh when Cambodians had reacted angrily to reports that Thai actress Suwanan Kongying had claimed the ancient Preah Vihear temple belonged to Thailand. The veracity of her statement was never established, but the news still spurred anger among Cambodians. In 2013, the International Court of Justice ruled that Cambodia has sovereignty over the whole territory. People living near the Cambodian border face financial hardship due to the closures of many border checkpoints, according to the Department of Management, Faculty of Business Administration faculty member, Acting Second Lieutenant Jul Thanasrivanitchai. "Local sellers are having a hard time, and Thai gamblers have not travelled to Cambodia as much. Around 5,000-20,000 Thai gamblers used to go to Cambodia a day," he said. During the border closure period, Acting Second Lieutenant Jul suggested the group look for new revenue streams to make up the shortfall. He added that local businesses and residents must devise plans to ensure a prompt response to any unforeseen events. The Middle East conflicts mean national security is a focus for Thailand, even though the country is not a member of the United Nations Security Council, said Jatuchatra Chommai, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations. Dr Krit Won-in, Vice President of the university's Innovation and Social Missions, said that while the Middle East conflicts have led to high oil prices and rising living costs, "In 2025, the Israel-Iran war represents a new dimension of power under the economic surface of the demand and supply of oil."
The Star
26-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Thai wine tax cut backfires: Consumption soars, state loses millions
BANGKOK: A controversial tax exemption on imported wine in Thailand has led to a significant increase in consumption, particularly among high-income earners, while costing the government millions in lost revenue and imposing substantial social burdens. A study conducted by Assistant Professor Mana Laksamee-arunothai and Associate Professor Chidtawan Chanakul from Kasetsart University's Faculty of Economics reveals that the policy, implemented in early 2024, reduced customs duties from 54 to 60 per cent and lowered excise tax. This has resulted in an estimated annual revenue loss to the state of almost 600 million baht (US$18 million). The research found a dramatic 300 per cent increase in consumption of wines priced between 3,001 baht and 5,000 baht within a single year. Overall, the value of wine imports jumped by over 10 per cent compared with the previous year, with direct benefits primarily accruing to foreign wine producers. While cheaper wines (under 1,000 baht) saw negligible price drops, high-end wines became over 10 per cent cheaper, boosting demand among affluent consumers. However, the policy's social and economic costs are substantial. The study estimates the total cost stemming from increased wine consumption, including risks from accidents, domestic violence, and impacts on children and youth, at over 10.3 billion baht. Senator Lae Dilokvidhyarat, speaking at a recent public forum, criticised the government's decision to exempt taxes on luxury goods like wine. He argued that it contradicts basic economic principles, leading to both lost revenue and negative public health and social consequences. Dr Chidtawan further highlighted that alcohol consumption is a classic 'externality', imposing unintended costs on society. Governments typically use taxes and regulations to limit consumption. She expressed concern that Thailand's government is also considering more liberal alcohol advertising, despite the country's high per capita consumption of 8 litres per year (exceeding Singapore, Japan, and Norway), and an average of 2,400 annual deaths from drink driving. - The Nation/ANN
Straits Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Thai wine tax cut backfires: Consumption soars, state loses millions
The estimated annual revenue loss to the state is almost 600 million baht (S$23.6 million). PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PIXABAY A controversial tax exemption on imported wine in Thailand has led to a significant increase in consumption, particularly among high-income earners, while costing the government millions in lost revenue and imposing substantial social burdens. A study conducted by Assistant Professor Mana Laksamee-arunothai and Associate Professor Chidtawan Chanakul from Kasetsart University's Faculty of Economics reveals that the policy, implemented in early 2024, reduced customs duties from 54 to 60 per cent and lowered excise tax. This has resulted in an estimated annual revenue loss to the state of almost 600 million baht (S$23.6 million). The research found a dramatic 300 per cent increase in consumption of wines priced between 3,001 baht and 5,000 baht within a single year. Overall, the value of wine imports jumped by over 10 per cent compared with the previous year, with direct benefits primarily accruing to foreign wine producers. While cheaper wines (under 1,000 baht) saw negligible price drops, high-end wines became over 10 per cent cheaper, boosting demand among affluent consumers. However, the policy's social and economic costs are substantial. The study estimates the total cost stemming from increased wine consumption, including risks from accidents, domestic violence, and impacts on children and youth, at over 10.3 billion baht. Senator Lae Dilokvidhyarat, speaking at a recent public forum, criticised the government's decision to exempt taxes on luxury goods like wine. He argued that it contradicts basic economic principles, leading to both lost revenue and negative public health and social consequences. Dr Chidtawan further highlighted that alcohol consumption is a classic 'externality', imposing unintended costs on society. Governments typically use taxes and regulations to limit consumption. She expressed concern that Thailand's government is also considering more liberal alcohol advertising, despite the country's high per capita consumption of 8 litres per year (exceeding Singapore, Japan, and Norway), and an average of 2,400 annual deaths from drink driving. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
France 24
25-04-2025
- General
- France 24
Tradition stokes pollution at Myanmar 'slash and burn' festival
But the villagers who set it ablaze dance below in a ceremony celebrating the inferno as a moment of regeneration and hope. "It's a tradition from our ancestors," said Joseph, a youth leader from Tha Yu village in Myanmar's eastern Shan state. "It's the only way we survive," added Joseph, who goes by only one name. Every year between January and April, Southeast Asia is plagued by smog from farmers lighting fires to clear land, emitting microscopic PM 2.5 pollution that lines the lungs and enters the bloodstream. Myanmar residents lose 2.3 years of life expectancy as a result of pollution from farming fires and other sources, according to analysis of 2022 data by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Since a 2021 coup, the country has been riven by a civil war between the military and a patchwork of anti-coup partisans and ethnic minority armed groups, leaving the toll from pollution largely ignored. But in Tha Yu village there are additional tensions -- between the old ways of agriculture and new knowledge about environmental risks. "We don't have any other work or opportunities in our region," said Joseph, 27, as haze swallowed the hills behind him, scorched to make way for paddy rice, chilli and corn. "So we are forced into this tradition every year." - 'Not getting rich' - Most agricultural burn-off happens when farmers incinerate the stubble of old harvests in their fields to make room for the new, and to fertilise the soil. But the smoke billowing around Tha Yu village is from "slash and burn" agriculture -- a method also called shifting cultivation, in which patches of wild vegetation are burnt for similar purposes, with crops planted for only a few growing cycles. "If possible, we want to try other agricultural methods but we don't have any technology and no one has taught us," said Joseph. Environmentalists generally say slash and burn farming can be twice as harmful because it lays waste to tracts of existing plant life which would otherwise absorb carbon dioxide emissions. But a 2023 study in Belize suggested Indigenous "slash and burn" farming done in intermediate size patches of land could have a positive effect on forest diversity by opening up space for new growth. In the Tha Yu ceremony, villagers in white headbands dance on stage before lighting a symbolic bundle of brush, swaying and clapping their hands in rhythmic celebration. Dark tendrils of smoke creep into the sky. "I can surely say we are not getting rich from shifting cultivation," said Khun Be Sai, a member of the local area's cultural committee. "We do it just to get by day to day." - Shifting mindset - Air quality monitoring is neither practical nor a priority in war-torn Myanmar, where more than half the population lives in poverty and 3.5 million people are displaced. But the toll from air pollution only adds to those woes. "Clean air is very important for your health," said Thailand's Kasetsart University environmental economist Witsanu Attavanich. "It's kind of a basic thing." "If you don't have it you have less healthy people, a lower quality of human capital. How can the country improve without good health?" Tha Yu is in an area controlled by the Kayan New Land Party, an ethnic minority armed group. Khun Be Sai says hundreds of villages in the region still practise slash and burn farming, but Tha Yu is the only place that marks it with a formal ceremony. But he sees little to celebrate in the landscape altered by climate change around the village. "We are experiencing more natural disasters. The forests are thinning and water retention is decreasing. We are experiencing soil erosion due to heavy rains," he said. While the ceremony lauds the practice that sustains their community, Khun Be Sai also sees a dwindling of their way of life. "People are leaving and living in different places," he said. © 2025 AFP
