Bangkok: Governor of Ayutthaya aims to export tobacco leaves to the world market. Open for purchase of Burley tobacco leaves. and unlimited Turkish prescriptions, accepting illegal cigarettes flowing along the border 2-3 times cheaper than legal cigarettes, greatly affecting legal cigarettes. Mr. Phumjit Phongphanngam The Governor of the Tobacco Authority of Thailand (TOT) said that the situation of world medicinal leaves in 2023 is that there is a shortage of burley medicinal leaves in the world market. As for Turkish medicine leaves, there is a price. Lower than the world market price, YOT therefore accepts the purchase of Burley tobacco leaves. and Turkish medicine leaves Unlimited quantity to enter the world market Because there is still a lot of demand It is considered another way to create additional income. Because it has set a profit target of 200 million baht from 2023, increasing to 400 million baht in 2024 due to domestic sales of cigarettes, the market share has continued to decrease from 80 perc ent of the total market in 2017. Reduced to 52 percent in 2023, so we have to find other sources of additional income. Including continuing to develop real estate to add value. admitted that after the recent restructuring of the cigarette excise tax rate that It has affected YAT to reduce production costs by cutting the quota for purchasing tobacco leaves from farmers by 50 percent for 3 consecutive years, affecting farmers' income. and more than 500,000 people involved, causing the government and YAT to increase support for farmers by more than 1,300 million baht. Currently, YT has a quota for purchasing 4.73 million kilograms of virginia leaves, 7.1 million kilograms of burley leaves, and 2 million kilograms of Turkish medicine leaves, while Virginian medicine leaves are more expensive than the world market price. making it difficult to export To release the medicinal leaves to the world market and YST has more than 2.9 million kilograms of virginia medicinal leaves in stock. YST is ready to bear and help farmers and curators of virginia medicinal leaves. The Excise Department is currently studying and amending the new cigarette tax collection structure. and may use a single tax rate structure as used by most countries. By collecting taxes based on quantity only In the past, TOAT has studied cigarette tax collection in various countries around the world and found that cigarette tax collection is at a higher rate. Aims to solve the problem of the effects of smoking. Hoping to reduce consumption and increase revenue for the government sector. YOT also found that tax policy should not consider the proportional rate in tax collection alone. Should be considered in a three-dimensional framework, namely the health dimension. Economic dimension and the social dimension, TAT is ready to adapt to support the proposed new cigarette tax collection structure. of the Excise Department TAT has studied data from countries in the ASEAN group such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, which all use a single tax rate structure. (Collecting taxes according to quantity) still cannot solve the problem of illegal cigarettes. Meanwhile, Vietnam and Myanmar treat tobacco as a special commodity, monopolized by the state, or have tax measures to protect the tobacco industry. It is considered an important part of the country's economy. YOT views that a single tax rate structure or Single Tier may be appropriate and applicable to many countries around the world. But it is not suitable for Thailand. Because there is a problem with illegal cigarettes or illegal cigarettes evading taxes Unable to control the spread of illegal cigarettes with any concrete results. Because illegal cigarettes do not pay state taxes. Therefore, they are 2 - 3 times cheaper than legal cigarettes. When cigarettes become more expensive than the purchasing power of the people. Therefore increasing the incentive for smokers to turn to illegal smoking. YOAT admits that Thailand is facing a serious problem of illegal cigarettes. because of the past tax structure As a result, foreign cigarettes are imported. Use a strategy to reduce retail prices that go against taxes. Consumers therefore turn to smoking tobacco and imported foreign cigarettes more. Therefore, if the tax structure is adjusted to a single rate. It will have a huge impact on the legal cigarette market. and YT operators and affect government tax revenue. People are also turning to consuming illegal tobacco and cigarettes. Therefore, the TAT sees that adjusting the excise tax rate on cigarettes in Thailand The impact on public health should be considered. Reduce the impact on tobacco farmers in the country. Unable to solve the problem of illegal cigarettes with tangible results The governor of the YTO added that in 2023, the total tax from cigarette sales was 70,000 million baht, but up to 25 percent had already been deprived of tax escape cigarettes, or more than 23,000 million baht in tax revenue had been lost. He admitted that cigarette smuggling break the law Both counterfeit cigarettes, tr ademarks of YOT, and smuggled cigarettes. They are many times cheaper than domestic cigarettes and are sold in the country very high. Especially in the southern region Illegal cigarettes account for more than 70 percent of all cigarettes in the southern region. It is considered that illegal cigarettes are likely to reach 22.3 percent in 2023, increasing from 2022 with only 15.5 percent and smuggled cigarettes. It has spread further into Bangkok and surrounding areas. Grew quickly, almost doubling within 6 months. At present, the tobacco excise tax structure collects 2 ad valorem taxes, 20% and 40% of the recommended retail price, not exceeding 60 baht per pack, and the portion over 60 baht, and a volume-based tax of 1.20 baht per cigarette. The same rate of ad valorem is 40% and the quantity tax is 1.20 baht per cigarette, and tobacco will have an ad valorem tax rate of 0 percent and a quantity tax of 0.10 baht per gram. YOT has received a new brand designer. Adjust the price to compete with the market Sou rce: Thai News Agency