Handouts will leave Thailand destitute?

A few years back, an official from the Tax Revenue Department, when asked, told me that I'd be shocked regarding the number of people actually paying tax. He said it was about 2 million, and yesterday your editorial states 2.3 million Thais paying taxes.

So it looks like the 2.3 million (me included) will be paying while the poor benefit. This figure is rather shocking for a country with more than 64 million people - which works out to only 3.5 per cent of the public shouldering the rest of the population.

Populist policies only help in the short term. The long-term prognosis is a loss for the whole country. Those receiving the handouts just wait. There is no incentive for them to better themselves, and all their productivity, even low, is lost. No nation can withstand this. The future is bleak, as there is less money in the treasury for infrastructure, and you have a whole generation of people just sitting around and waiting for more handouts.

Thailand is blessed with natural resources - more so than many surrounding countries. With all these populist policies blatantly used by politicians, the path to "underdeveloped country" status for Thailand is just around the corner. A few years ago, Thailand was one of the shining stars in the region, but that is not the case now. If the present government keeps on with this financially destructive policy, we may end up like Burma or, worse, like an African nation.

C Tan

Bangkok