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Re: 'Final phase of sugar tax gets underway', (Business, April 10).
All societies are unique, but reading about Thailand's escalating sugar taxes reminded me of when America started aggressively taxing cigarettes when I was growing up. The memory itself is 'taxing', and here is the story:
America's attempts at taxing tobacco ("for your own good") actually dated back to the 18th century and failed for about 200 years. Then, in the 1970s through the 1990s, draconian excise taxes were introduced principally on cigarettes. Cigarette smokers like me were also banished outdoors & became very socially unpopular; a source of social blame.
Today, these taxes are a massive, irrational burden -- about 400 baht (US$12) per pack of cigarettes in Wisconsin today, or twice that in New York City, nearly 1,000 baht. That easily totals 12,000 to 24,000 baht per month, or more than many Thai full-time workers make in a month, effectively bankrupting smokers.
Underground tobacco runners now illegally sell cigarettes obtained from Native American Reservations, which have no such taxes, resulting in a bloody, fatal clash involving New York City police officers a few years ago.
Thus, in America, the idea of regulating human behaviour via tax was bad across the board and the American cigarette taxes went to fund lavish pension plans for anyone else but the poor.
Perhaps the outcome of excise taxes will be better in Thailand, but I simply politely suggest that a better idea is to subsidise healthy beverages and foods, increase the public's education, and let consumers make informed, "untaxing" choices.
Jason A Jellison
