No one escapes the taxman

The writer said, “The 15 million Pheu Thai supporters are not the country’s main taxpayers.” Does the writer imply that they should be disfranchised?

The fact is that peasants who support Pheu Thai pay VAT when they buy goods, just like the writer does. They pay tax when they buy tractors, fertilisers, pickup trucks, motorcycles, mobile phones, food and so on. They pay tax for the roads they use, just like the writer does. They pay tax for land upon which they grow rice and vegetables to feed the writer, the middle class, the elite and the elite-wannabes.

It’s true that they pay less income tax or none at all. But that is because their incomes are too low; they are exempt by law. If you want to squeeze more blood from them, you have to amend the tax law. 

Meechai Burapa 

Chiang Mai