OPINION

Wielding the stick

Re: "Banks, telecoms face tougher scam laws", (BP, Dec 27).

The news of Deputy PM and Digital Economy and Society Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong imposing more responsibility on banks and mobile phone operators to get tough on scammers is most welcome.

Rather late, but better rather than never.

Gone should be the days of those scammers having a field day with all of us.

Re: "Thailand's proposed tax to be tiered system", (Business, Dec 27) & "Decree to ring in top-up tax in 2025", (Business, Dec 24).

Thailand seems determined to adopt OECD policies wholesale, with little or no debate. Along with the well-publicised OECD policies of residency-based taxation, and broad-based VAT, there are a raft of other OECD policies such as a tax on salt, fat, and sugar.

To be clear, not all OECD policies are bad. However, outsourcing policy-making to the OECD merely to obtain membership seems dangerous and somewhat undemocratic.

Thailand, in its bid to join the OECD, is being forced to adopt a range of policy settings the OECD believes will reduce inequality, increase productivity and growth, fight climate change, and encourage better health outcomes.

These are noble causes. However, the policy proposed amounts to no more than Western-style socialism. In essence, aggressive broad-based taxation to support social programmes, and punitive taxes to influence choices, such as a proposed tax on salt.

Ideology aside, serious questions remain as to the effectiveness of such policies in Western countries, let alone their appropriateness for an emerging Asian economy such as Thailand.

The EU and other Western countries, which make up the bulk of the OECD, can afford to experiment with these socialist policies.

Harmonisation of policies ensures no one country will be held at a disadvantage for adopting what are uncompetitive policies for the greater good.

However, Thailand is located in a fiercely competitive region, where each country adopts its own policy settings to gain a competitive advantage, and can ill-afford to adopt a set of inappropriate policies that tilts the playing field in favour of its regional peers.

Moreover, Thailand should not hold itself out as a test bed for OECD policies in emerging Asia. A policy misstep could be quite catastrophic. One need only look to Sri Lanka to see how a Western-inspired agriculture policy caused a crisis or Nigeria, where the adoption of a Western-inspired digital currency caused social upheaval.

As with other OECD polices, the tax on salt is good in theory. However, in practice it is ill-suited to an emerging Asian economy like Thailand.

Such a policy is unlikely to dramatically improve health outcomes, as much as it will increase the costs of consumer staples and make life for ordinary Thais all the more difficult.

Rather than rush to harmonise with OECD policies, Thailand should take the time to carefully consider the appropriateness of OECD policies and OECD membership itself.

For the last month, my paper has been delivered in a plastic sleeve. While this makes sense during the rainy season, it is a waste at this time of year, especially as the narrow shape of the sleeve means it cannot be repurposed. Please advise your distributors to check the weather forecast daily before wrapping the paper in plastic.

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