webfact Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Thailand Tobacco Monopoly to award authorities for cracking down on illegal cigarettesBANGKOK, 26 February 2016 (NNT) - The smuggling of cigarettes has reportedly been on the rise, following the excise tax hike.The news has prompted Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) to announce its plan to crack down on the illegal cigarette sales. TTM Director Daonoi Suthinipapan said that a total of 10 million baht has been set aside to award government officials, police, and soldiers who have successfully arrested cigarette smugglers.Under the TTM incentive program, A pack of illegal cigarettes is worth three baht in reward money. Authorities can earn 1,000 baht for every 500 packs confiscated. The TTM will also pay an additional 50,000 baht for 25,000 packs found.Authorities will have until the end of September this year to claim the award for their arrests. The TTM will extend the deadline if this method proves effective in keeping illegal cigarettes at bay.The TTM Director said the reward money is meant to lead to serious legal action against illegal cigarette smuggling, which has significantly impacted revenue from excise tax.-- NNT 2016-02-26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoFarAndNear Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Bounty for police work. Welcome to the wild west Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaywalker Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 If it weren't Thailand, I'd say this beggars belief, but TIT, so it's par for the course. Wait till they get hot and heavy on the civil asset forfeiture idea. They'll be rewarding themselves out the wazoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Horrible idea. The police should do the work they are suppose to without additional bribes like this. It should be illegal for this to happen. Wow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx22cb Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 I say, Thai Tobacco do realise that parts of the smuggling operations involve some Police and Military people (inter alia), don't they? And TTM's paltry 10 M Baht is peanuts compared to the under-the-table money that is paid every year to various Govt people in the loop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chang_paarp Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 I wonder if the journalist(?) knows the difference between award and reward? That said I have to agree withtx22cd that the reserved 10M THB is paltry compared with what their competition are currently rewarding the police with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezzra Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Monopoly, a license to print money... no matter what you're selling... and god forbid someone will muscle in on that exclusive cash cow, and as far as the government concern, as long as they get their cut, da hell with people health, out of the 60 odd millions people living in Thailand, what's a few thousand dying of smoking related ailments, cost of doing business.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCC1701A Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Thailand Tobacco Monopoly: "these are our nicotine addicted slaves." Mafia Police: "No, they are our slaves." Thailand Tobacco Monopoly: "are too." Mafia Police: "are not." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas32 Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaltsc Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 In the west, this is what is called a "Kickback". In Thailand,it's called "The only way you can get anyone to do their job". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Stand by for more stories, about tourists getting hassled at Swampy, just after they clear Customs inbound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfact Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 TTM offers 10 million baht cash rewards to stop cigarette smugglingBANGKOK: -- Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) has offered 10 million baht cash as rewards for government authorities across the country to crack down on tobacco smuggling.The cash offer was revealed by TTM director Ms Daonoi Suthinipaphan after the government has recently raised excise tax on tobacco, forcing retail prices of locally produced cigarettes to go up.The rise in local cigarette prices is feared to spark rampant smuggling of foreign cigarettes into the country.TTM director said the cash rewards will be offered to encourage all authorities namely excise, customs, police and military personnel to step up the crackdown on smuggled cigarettes along the border.She recalled that last year authorities seized more than 300 million baht of smuggled cigarettes in over 16,000 smuggling cases.She said that TTM suffered a 22% decline in cigarette sales in the South as people have turned to smuggled cigarettes.This led to a fall in revenue the state should obtain from taxes, she said.She admitted that the recent excise tax increase has pushed prices of locally produced cigarettes to 15-20 baht higher per packet, thus forcing people to turn to smuggled cigarettes, and even fake cigarettes which are more hazardous to health.Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/152565 -- Thai PBS 2016-02-26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 who gets what money? does the individual that was involved get the 3 thb and the authority the 2 thb for each pack in a 500 pack bundle? where will the 50,000 thb be paid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgesAbitbol Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 as the police was probably the one who was at least partly in charge of the smuggling I think i will apply soon to this wonderful job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redline Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 A monopoly paying bribes is in the news!? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaAl Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Only speaking from personal point of view and experience , the only reason why I buy and will Continue to buy smuggled cigarettes is because said monopoly does not allow any other brands on to the market and government officials are more than happy to support it. I hate locally made and sold brands. Nothing else is available unless smuggled from neighboring countries . How and why in the airport there is a large range of brands, yet most of those not available anywhere else in the country. Another interesting thing , at one point , Marlboro was not available at the airport at all, yet plenty all over the country Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connda Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Mussolini had a word for the tight bond between corporate interests and governments. Then you think that governments work for 'the people'. Yeah, sure. But therein lies the unholy alliance of 'agreements' such as the TPP. The hell with the citizens and free enterprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenslegs Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 If only some other groups had 10 Million baht to "encourage" the police to do their job: Battered wives Abused children Fishing boat slaves Etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdoglover Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Perfectly fits the definition of bribery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Only speaking from personal point of view and experience , the only reason why I buy and will Continue to buy smuggled cigarettes is because said monopoly does not allow any other brands on to the market and government officials are more than happy to support it. I hate locally made and sold brands. Nothing else is available unless smuggled from neighboring countries . <snip for brevity? "said monopoly does not allow any other brands on to the market" and "Nothing else is available unless smuggled" In fact some 21% (by volume) and 75% (by value) of the legal domestic market is legal imports, distributed via TTM (I believe, but may be wrong ?), however they have an obvious need to not lose too many of their own sales, so may informally discourage imports to some extent.. "the ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement in 1992 has since meant that foreign tobacco companies can distribute cigarettes in Thailand" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_Tobacco_Monopoly I remember the days when smuggled-brands were widely available, sold on just about every street-corner in Pattaya, the vendors being almost as annoying as tailors hoping to sell you a suit & shirts ! This slightly-dated academic-source discusses the size of the transit-trade. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3509212/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcatcher Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Thailand Tobacco Monopoly TTM, controlled by the Ministry of Finance MOF, is offering rewards to law enforcement agencies Royal Thai Police RTP, customs etc to try to prevent the smuggling of cigarettes into the country.As others have clarified, legal imports of foreign cigarettes are allowed but the smuggled products are the problem. This is in order that the TTM can increase sales of domestic cigarettes and thus increase the revenue going to the MOF. For those whose health is damaged by the smoking of cigarettes, the TTM conveniently has a hospital where presumably they have modern facilities to do with respiratory diseases caused by smoking. Mrs Daonoi http://www2.mof.go.th/leader/leader.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wabothai Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Un <deleted!> believable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farcanell Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 TTM offers 10 million baht cash rewards to stop cigarette smuggling BANGKOK: -- Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) has offered 10 million baht cash as rewards for government authorities across the country to crack down on tobacco smuggling. The cash offer was revealed by TTM director Ms Daonoi Suthinipaphan after the government has recently raised excise tax on tobacco, forcing retail prices of locally produced cigarettes to go up. The rise in local cigarette prices is feared to spark rampant smuggling of foreign cigarettes into the country. TTM director said the cash rewards will be offered to encourage all authorities namely excise, customs, police and military personnel to step up the crackdown on smuggled cigarettes along the border. She recalled that last year authorities seized more than 300 million baht of smuggled cigarettes in over 16,000 smuggling cases. She said that TTM suffered a 22% decline in cigarette sales in the South as people have turned to smuggled cigarettes. This led to a fall in revenue the state should obtain from taxes, she said. She admitted that the recent excise tax increase has pushed prices of locally produced cigarettes to 15-20 baht higher per packet, thus forcing people to turn to smuggled cigarettes, and even fake cigarettes which are more hazardous to health. Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/152565 -- Thai PBS 2016-02-26 So.... Smuggling has reduced government tax income from the legal sale of cigarettes..... So they have increased the tax to cover the shortfall created by smuggling... Is that what they said? Lol... Anyway... Thailand tobacco MONOPOLY.... You gotta laugh... Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaAl Posted February 28, 2016 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Only speaking from personal point of view and experience , the only reason why I buy and will Continue to buy smuggled cigarettes is because said monopoly does not allow any other brands on to the market and government officials are more than happy to support it. I hate locally made and sold brands. Nothing else is available unless smuggled from neighboring countries . <snip for brevity? "said monopoly does not allow any other brands on to the market" and "Nothing else is available unless smuggled" In fact some 21% (by volume) and 75% (by value) of the legal domestic market is legal imports, distributed via TTM (I believe, but may be wrong ?), however they have an obvious need to not lose too many of their own sales, so may informally discourage imports to some extent.. "the ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement in 1992 has since meant that foreign tobacco companies can distribute cigarettes in Thailand" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand_Tobacco_Monopoly I remember the days when smuggled-brands were widely available, sold on just about every street-corner in Pattaya, the vendors being almost as annoying as tailors hoping to sell you a suit & shirts ! This slightly-dated academic-source discusses the size of the transit-trade. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3509212/ Davidoff, B&H, Camel,Dunhil not available anywhere but airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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