OPINION

The pigeon menace

Re: "Travellers urged to monitor for symptoms of bird flu", (BP, June 15).

The next big health hazard could be bird flu, with experts in the US warning of a major outbreak.

In many prominent areas of Bangkok, such as the Grand Palace, Sanam Luang, Klong Toey, Chatuchak, and Bangna Intersection, one prevalent issue remains constant: the pervasive pigeon menace.

These birds not only deface monuments, statues, and other structures but also pose a health risk. Despite these concerns, many locals continue to feed rice and grains to pigeons, unaware of the health hazards they bring and motivated solely by misguided beliefs about karma.

Moreover, the unchecked proliferation of pigeons is having detrimental effects on other bird species, notably driving sparrows to extinction by competing for their food sources. Additionally, there is growing evidence linking the presence of pigeons to respiratory ailments, exacerbating the already alarming rates of lung diseases observed among patients in local hospitals.

It is imperative for the local government to address this issue promptly. Measures such as the humane capture and relocation of pigeons to forested areas across the country could not only mitigate health risks but also help preserve biodiversity and potentially save lives. Ignoring the pigeon problem would be a disservice to public health and the environment, underscoring the urgent need for proactive intervention.

AI exam cheats

Re: "Must do better", (Life, June 5).

A recent trial by the University of Reading in the UK showed that exam markers were fooled by AI answers, or were they?

What if the exam markers were AI bots and they could recognise what were student answers and what were AI answers and reward them with better marks?

It is not as unrealistic as people might think as a number of educational organisations are considering AI correction as a money saver.

Youth robots

Re: "Curriculum set for major overhaul" and "Factories closing as cheap imports flood Thailand", (BP, June 27).

The Ministry of Education's core curriculum major overhaul doesn't begin to go in the right direction -- for MOE mandarins don't even know what "education" is. On that topic, "It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts...It is to teach them to think" (Robert M Hutchins).

We have been teaching our charges "what" to think, not "how" to think, and the MOE's aim to cut our overly long school hours and use more technology shows no recognition that we've been training our youth to be robots -- not leaders for tomorrow.

Consider what our decades-long indoctrination has produced: (a) Almost two-thirds (64.7%) of Thais can barely read and understand how to follow medical instructions. (b) Three-quarters (74.1%) of them cannot find the correct price of a product on an online shopping website. It should be no surprise that our labour force's productivity is so low that from January to May alone, 488 factories with a combined investment value of B14bn were shuttered, laying off 12,551 or more workers. And our much more productive competitors are flooding us with their output.

Focus on teaching how to think, MOE. PM Srettha, re-direct the digital wallet budget towards teaching people how to fish, not giving out fish, to paraphrase Lao Tze.

Tax trauma

Re: "Ease foreign tax burden", (Editorial, June 24).

Tax burdens on expats residing in Thailand should not only be eased but should be paused, and careful consideration given to whether long-stay tourists as retirees should be forced into the Thai tax system at all.

Many expats are now quite familiar with Double Tax Agreements (DTAs). The problem is DTAs do not provide tax equalisation. At home, expats enjoy generous tax credits, allowance, untaxed or low tax income, and broad tax bands that are not available to them in Thailand. This results in a lower effective tax rate at home than in Thailand. The upshot is that expats will be asked to pay substantially more tax in Thailand during their long stay, on top of the tax they pay at home, even when a DTA exists. This additional tax comes on top of the many tax, social, and health benefits these expats sacrifice in their home country when they opt for a long stay in Thailand.

Another problem is the increased cost and complexity these tax changes bring during a long stay. Not only does an expat need to remain tax compliant and pay taxes at home, but now has the additional burden of entering and navigating the Thai tax system. The only solution is to hire tax experts in Thailand and at home who have experience with DTAs. Such expertise does not come cheap, and it is yet another cost that long-stay tourist retirees will need to bear. Even with tax experts by their side, the bureaucratic burdens will be significant, and there is no guarantee that the outcomes will make a long stay in Thailand any more compelling.

Then there is the question of fairness. For long-stay tourists or retirees, it seems unfair to pay additional taxes to Thailand when they are not provided with access to the range of benefits offered to other groups of taxpayers in Thailand, no right to work, no access to social or health benefits, and not even the prospect of remaining in Thailand on a permanent basis.

It should not be forgotten that many long-stay tourists and retirees already pay a price for their stay in Thailand. Some pay millions of baht for a privilege visa, others make large investments to qualify for an LTR visa, yet others contribute to local bank deposits and insurers to qualify for a retirement visa. They also contribute to the tax base through indirect taxes such as VAT, sales tax, withholding tax, and duties. Not to mention the contributions long-stay tourists and retirees make through the ongoing remittance of foreign funds, which is vital to the Thai economy and the very reason these programmes exist.

No. The problem is not as simple as reducing tax burdens or increasing the number of DTAs. The problem is that the new and proposed tax policies make a long stay in Thailand a very unattractive proposition. Sadly, DTAs or no DTAs, many expats will avoid Thailand, and many more resident expats are likely to join the growing exodus back home or to more tax-friendly shores. This would be a big loss to Thailand.

Unjust tithes

Re "Tax plan is flawed", (PostBag, June 23) and "Easing expat fears", (PostBag, June 25).

Songdej Praditsmanont commented on my "lamented" letter about the intent of the Revenue Department to tax foreigners living more than 180 days per year in this country on their worldwide income. The only lament was to cry foul about a blatant injustice of taxation while not giving anything in return, except for a very expensive yearly tourist visa, as nothing else is provided to foreigners who do not have the right to vote or access to the 30-baht public health services, or access to an easy path to citizenship, or buy land, or work unless they possess a very difficult-to-obtain work permit, as I know because I have been through the process many times already. We all pay VAT and road tax when renewing our vehicle registrations yearly.

A few days later, he then declares: "The Thai tax system on individuals is based on self-declaration of income and relief. One simply fills in the self-declared income tax form. The declaration can be challenged subsequently by the Revenue Department, legally within ten years, but in practice far less than that and less frequently." If there is something that I have learned in my 35 years in Siam, it is that nothing is simple within Thai bureaucracies, and it would be a great surprise if the Revenue Department were the exception that confirmed the rule. A quick browse of Thai expat blogs confirms that most foreigners who have to do so experience quite some headaches dealing with the Siam Taxman.

As for his claim that double taxation avoidance treaties have been signed with many countries, including my home country (Canada), this is very true. What is excruciatingly difficult is to apply the letter of the treaty to our circumstances. A simple example: in Canada, non-residents for tax purposes making investments in Canada are subject to withholding tax on most of their dividends, interest or capital gains and such revenues are taxed at various levels (from 0 to 25%); there is no requirement to provide a yearly income tax filing as this process is performed directly by the institutions paying these revenues with the withholding tax forwarded directly to the Canada Revenue Agency. Although various kinds of reports are available from these institutions, there is minimal, if any, official paper trail, so how do you provide proof if audited? On faith?

There are three basic tax systems: tax residents on worldwide income, tax residents on territorial income and tax worldwide income based on citizenship. Only two countries use the latter, the US being one of them (Eritrea is the other). This means that a US citizen has an obligation to file an income tax report even if he is a non-resident of the US. Canada is taxing residents on worldwide income as most developed countries do. But many other countries tax residents only on territorial grounds, for example: Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Georgia, Panama, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, just to name a few. Thailand is still currently part of this group, but has now announced it wants to join the club of developed nations by taxing worldwide income.

And I won't start on the 17 completely tax-free countries ...

I really hope that Songdej is right that many members of the Thai elite would also be very upset and negatively affected by such a drastic change and may exert their influence to put this announcement to rest.