Rice scheme is divisive

PostBag

Published: 5 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Re: Wichit Chantanusornsiri's article "Solving poverty goes beyond writing cheques" (BP, Oct 4). I agree 100% with Khun Wichit's article. Furthermore, I fear that the rice subsidy scheme and other similar schemes are rapidly leading to a divide in Thailand which may result in even worse disruption than we saw in 2010. These schemes look likely to become unstoppable until the next crisis occurs.

How can one group which pays the country's taxes accept seeing large amounts of their money being transferred to another group? The government says the subsidies are to help the poor farmers but payments are made without regard to whether a farmer is poor or rich. If it was for only poor people it might be acceptable. But not all farmers are poor. Many farms are owned by rich Thais.

How can middle- and lower-income taxpayers accept their money being given to richer farmers and millers?

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moody
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Discussion 8 : 05 Oct 2012 at 16.008
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A reduction in import tax won't mean a boom in car sales. Instead, there will be more choice and fairness. For example, i could buy a realistically priced Nissan electric car in stead of the Toyota hybrid. And instead of going to the grey market to get an illegally taxed Lambo (which is largely the case today), i could turn to the authorized importer if prices were realistic. Whether import tax is reduced or not, there will always be more cars on the road.
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lungstib
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Discussion 7 : 05 Oct 2012 at 14.087
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Disconnected; I live partway between Tha Ton and Mae Salong in the far north. My neighbor has his own private internet line from 3B. I gave up paying 700b a month plus repair/replacement bills and use the village internet at 15b an hour. Place is teeming with Lisu and Karen kids plus others. It ain't great but it looks like the countryside is managing.
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lungstib
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Discussion 6 : 05 Oct 2012 at 14.086
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Disconnected; I live partway between Tha Ton and Mae Salong in the far north. My neighbor has his own private internet line from 3B. I gave up paying 700b a month plus repair/replacement bills and use the village internet at 15b an hour. Place is teeming with Lisu and Karen kids plus others. It ain't great but it looks like the countryside is managing.
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dao
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Discussion 5 : 05 Oct 2012 at 10.125
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I would suggest scrapping import duties on everything except cars .The heavily protected markets would open up and products would pour into Thailand creating more business than the silly import taxes ever did .
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maunder
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Discussion 4 : 05 Oct 2012 at 08.314
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Ahh, yes. Reduce car import duties. Because if there's anything Thailand needs more of, it's cars on the roads! Why, only a week ago, I saw traffic moving along Sathorn Road. Obviously, room for additional vehichles is now available.
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rebel4ever
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Discussion 3 : 05 Oct 2012 at 08.303
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I see more high prized luxury cars in Thailand than in Europe. So what's the problem? In the building where I live there is a Ferrari, a Lotus Eclipse, 2 Lambo's, a Bentley and various Porches. Never seen so many Merc's and BMW's driving in Bangkok's streets.. Money is not the problem; showing off is...
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oldairman
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Discussion 2 : 05 Oct 2012 at 06.452
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Slash car import duties

Bentley may seem to be too small a manufacturer to be calling on the Thai government to lower import duties for cars.

Krit just for your information Bentley Is a small manufacturer but it does ahve a good turnover.
€1,119 million (2011)
€721 million (2010)
Also it is owned by Volkswagen which is a slightly bigger company.
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Aussie John
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Discussion 1 : 05 Oct 2012 at 04.501
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Back to the future..you hit the nail on the head...a vast majority of productive farms are not owned by the farmers themselves but rich landlords who of course take the majority of the subsidy. They're not going to pass it on to the tenant farmers, that would be too altruistic now wouldn't it.
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Rice scheme is divisive | Bangkok Post: opinion