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Thailand enters 'War on Sugar' with tax on sweetened beverages


rooster59

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7 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I'd like to know if putting tax on these drinks actually has any effect on consumption levels. If mummy is just going to pay an extra 2 baht to keep her kid happy, the only winner is the tax department. Getting kids involved in activity sports is far more beneficial for the bodys weight, not to mention the cardio vascular system.

The fatties are lazy and won’t do any exercise at all.

 

Saw one today, pleasant face but legs like a stove pipe. It’s hard to have sympathy when they think a fitness gym is for taking selfies.

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3 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

At what level is the sugar tax currently?

 

How high do you think it should be?

How about wine levels?

Wine taxes are obscene.

Wine is healthy. 

Sugar drinks aren't.

That's an absurd situation. 

 

Seriously, you know I can't give you policy specifics, so why push that? The details are up to governments. My point is for people that say the sugar taxes are not effective, I counter that it's never been tried with VERY HIGH taxes. Maybe that would work better.

 

That said, I think it's only fair that governments that raise a lot of money that way target a good portion of the revenue into other programs, education (which is less effective than most people imagine) and medical programs for obesity related diseases (heart, diabetes, cancer). 

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Because 'states', by their nature as they mature, seek to impose more and more restrictions and regulations and taxes on their citizens over time?  They can't leave the 'little people' to make their own choices.  The few at the top must keep the majority in line <of course, for their own good>. :sleep:

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1 minute ago, connda said:

Because 'states', by their nature as they mature, seek to impose more and more restrictions and regulations and taxes on their citizens over time?  They can't leave the 'little people' to make their own choices.  The few at the top must keep the majority in line <of course, for their own good>. :sleep:

Thailand has a national health care system. It may be inadequate, but it's something. So the government is already involved in health matters here and in my view most Thais are happy about that. It makes sense for the government to make efforts at PREVENTION as well. Both ethical and financial good reasons to do that, again, given the government is involved in treating the patients with obesity related diseases. 

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2 minutes ago, Luckysilk said:

Isn’t it easier just to tax fat people ? 5000 baht a year will motivate them to walk.

 

Why should I have to pay more for my one can of EST a month cuz they can’t control their eating habits.

I think you are simply being mean spirited, but there are alternative ways of addressing this health issue that are more in line with your thinking. Japan is very interesting.

 

https://mic.com/articles/84521/japan-has-cut-obesity-to-3-5-in-a-controversial-way-that-wouldn-t-fly-in-america#.tviLn1wFR

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Nothing wrong with a high carb diet, if you are also prepared to adopt a high exercise life style. Sugars that are eaten should be unrefined. Fruit, potatoes, black or brown rice, juice, cereals, wholemeal breads, all these foods will allow sugars to be absorbed slowly without giving rise to a dangerous sugar spike most people get from white rice or refined sugary snacks. If you exercise at least 2 hours a day, you are unlikely to gain weight. Walking, running, cycling are ideal.

Fat should also be avoided, it's the fat that is combined with sugar, plus no exercise that is going to turn you into a lard-arse. Every time I am the Tesco checkout, there are people buying 5 large bottles or more of corn oil at a time, what do they do with it? And yes, they are all fat. Oil should be used very sparingly, and if you use such a small amount you can afford olive oil. One bottle lasts me about 3 months. Avoid red meat, a little lean chicken and some fish is fine.

Less that 1 percent of Thai people do any exercise. Not counting all the manual labourers, construction site workers, farmers, who are all slim, fit and as strong as an ox.

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8 hours ago, Pilotman said:

This made me laugh.  I have never known a country where the population put sugar in absolutely everything, bar nothing.   They even put sugar into drinks that are already high in the stuff, .like hot chocolate. Why they are mostly thin I have no idea. 

Try India, Pakistan and most of Greece

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8 hours ago, Pilotman said:

 I have never known a country where the population put sugar in absolutely everything, bar nothing.  // Why they are mostly thin I have no idea. 

They are not

About 1/3 of Thai adults or overweight

About 1/2 or Bangkok ladies or overweight !

 

(Source: This 2017 study: https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/236536/adbi-wp703.pdf )

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58 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Sounds like right wing ideologically driven PROPAGANDA.

More objective sources conclude there has been modest success in Mexico. 

 

Mexico's Soda Tax Success

Sales of sugary drinks fell in the developed world's second-most-obese country.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-01-08/mexico-s-soda-tax-success

 

That is why I would like to see a major nation (could be THAILAND) consider a more radical tactic and test that out -- much, much higher even PUNISHING taxes on sugar drinks. 

 

Ha! That's rich! Making accusations of propaganda and then quoting Bloomberg! :) Bloomberg the fanatical anti-smoker who just recently jumped on the anti-sugar bandwagon and spent millions of dollars pushing for sugar taxes all over the USA.

 

... but let's take a moment here to savour the defeat of that evil old fossil Michael Bloomberg who has been bankrolling soda tax campaigns all around America (and beyond). He's not short of money but even a billionaire must smart from pouring millions of dollars down the drain, as he has in Chicago.

In 2016, Bloomberg handed over $1 million for ads to build support for the tax, and then donated another $2 million in August 2017.

In September, Bloomberg funnelled in another $3 million to the pro-tax cause.

And two weeks ago, in an extraordinary act of hubris, he handed out a $2.5 million grant to some 'public health' researchers at the University of Illinois to study the effects of the tax.

 

Cook County, it should be noted, just threw the hated soda tax out after just two months.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-met-cook-county-soda-tax-kass-1011-story.html

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54 minutes ago, Luckysilk said:

The fatties are lazy and won’t do any exercise at all.

 

Saw one today, pleasant face but legs like a stove pipe. It’s hard to have sympathy when they think a fitness gym is for taking selfies.

 

Setting aside for a moment how rude and mean it is to refer to obese people as lazy fatties, I'm also guessing that you're not up to speed on the last 10-20 years of research that show chemical and genetic links to obesity.  Some folks can eat whatever they want and stay slim, others aren't so lucky.  Still others have chemical imbalances that torture them with hunger pangs no matter how much they eat.

 

Personally, I'm forecasting a whistleblower from Big Pharma, Big Food, or Big Agro testifying one day (soon, I hope) about how their employer knew for decades exactly what they were adding to their product to keep people coming back for more...and more...and still more.   And it wouldn't surprise me to find out that it's sugar or another sweetener like high fructose corn syrup.

 

 

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I say we do it fairly and just tax calories. Staple foods and restaurant items would get a 500 calorie allowance but every calorie over that would cost an extra 10 satang. This would force vendors to make portion sizes more reasonable while deterring gluttony and binge drinking.

 

Calories per gram:

 

Carbs = 4

Proteins = 4

Fats = 9

Alcohol = 7

 

This would put a 15 baht calorie tax on a standard can of beer.

 

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1 minute ago, attrayant said:

Alcohol = 7

 

This would put a 15 baht calorie tax on a standard can of beer.

 

My God, there would be hundreds of retirees rioting in the streets and threatening to buy a one way ticket to Cambodia (or is it somewhere else this week?)

 

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4 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Ho ho ho.  I have had way too many occasions when asking for no sugar, no MSG or (my favorite) no pepper has resulted in the cook doubling up on whatever I mentioned.  Just like at work, you not only have to tell them what you want, have them repeat what you just said, then actually watch to make sure they got it.   Which is difficult when the waitress is really, really cute and the cook is hidden away in a back room.

 

I wonder if this is not a case of them not understanding (and --of course-- not asking since they would lose face) because, let's admit it, enunciation and slowing down are not the forte of a lot of native-speakers. I am not sure most speakers understand which words are the simplest to understand either. Short verbal phrases with those prepositions that are arbitrary are problematic. On the other hand, I am not aware what they teach. Of course, the spelling system being the mess it is, I am sure a lot of words are badly taught, but that's native speakers not fixing their language. It is always easier to ask others to change. 

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Where I live they don’t sell diet varieties of drinks such as Coke, Pepsi, Sprite etc. I constantly ask for them but I am the only one so I have to bulk buy from elsewhere as I don’t want my young children overloading on their sugar intake.

 

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I don't know why there are so few sugar free soft drinks available in Thailand apart from Coke light or Zero, in most other parts of the world every soft drink has a sugar free alternative. Being diabetic I look out for them and when eating out in Thailand have to specify no sugar.

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9 hours ago, Pilotman said:

This made me laugh.  I have never known a country where the population put sugar in absolutely everything, bar nothing.   They even put sugar into drinks that are already high in the stuff, .like hot chocolate. Why they are mostly thin I have no idea. 

Caffeine, Somtam and loose motion keeps them thin

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