The poor are too poor to pay tax

C Tan states that he is one of only 2.3 million out of 64 million who pay tax. You mean income tax, right?

The poor don't pay income tax because their incomes are not up to the bracket as required by law. In other words, they are too poor to pay income tax. Why don't you quit your current job and get a new one that pays Bt5,000 a month, then you'll live comfortably without paying income tax too.

The poor pay value-added tax. Yes, every time they buy a pack of instant noodles for dinner, they pay VAT. The poor pay tax on land that they use to grow rice, vegetables and fruits to feed the middle class and the rich. The poor pay road tax when they buy motorcycles and pickup trucks.

The poor do menial work that nobody else will do, because we have a plethora of university graduates of arts and social studies who are looking for scarce white-collar jobs.

I wish the poor Isaan people held a strike just for one day. Bangkok would be choked to death. I pay too.

B Dean

Bangkok