Anti-smoking advocates are throwing their support behind the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) push to implement tobacco taxes, which would effectively increase the price of cigarettes by up to 10 satang apiece.
Deputy city clerk Suthathip Son-iam said the BMA has never collected taxes on tobacco sales before.
Such a tax would be dependent on an amendment to the 1985 Bangkok Administrative Act, under the local administrative organisations' power distribution law.
Before such tax collections can begin, approval from the BMA council would also be needed, she said.
The push to amend the 1985 Bangkok Administrative Act to diversify its revenue streams has been in the works for many years. However, past attempts to amend the act were struck down because they targeted too many sectors.
In 2016, the BMA narrowed down its focus to speed up the process. Further revisions were made in 2017 and 2020.
Rerngrudee Pathanwanich, an expert in community medicine at Ramathibodi Hospital under Mahidol University's Faculty of Medicine, said authorities could increase the price of cigarettes by up to 10 satang per stick, or 1.86 baht per pack.
Unlike other localities, which have been collecting taxes on tobacco sales since 2003, the BMA has no such taxes. This prompted companies to store their cigarettes in warehouses in Bangkok prior to distribution to nearby provinces to avoid paying taxes.
Prakit Vathesatogkit, president of the Action of Smoking and Health Foundation, said there have been several attempts to implement the tobacco tax in Bangkok, to no avail.
He said candidates in the city governor election should include the tobacco tax in their election manifestos.