Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira has floated the idea of increasing value-added tax (VAT), while reducing corporate and personal income tax rates to strengthen state revenue, drive national development, enhance competitiveness and address domestic disparities.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has introduced guidelines stating that everyone engaged in business should contribute by paying a minimum 15% corporate income tax.
Thailand must also comply; while the country’s current corporate income tax rate is 20%, the challenge is how to reduce it to 15% to remain competitive globally, he said in an address at the Sustainability Forum 2025 on Tuesday.
Regarding personal income tax, Mr Pichai said there is fierce competition to attract skilled workers. Many countries have reduced their tax rates, while Thailand still collects a maximum of 35% from top earners.
Ministry officials have been discussing the possibility of a flat 15% personal income tax rate to attract skilled professionals from abroad.
However, he noted that Thailand’s personal income tax base remains low, while the consumption tax base is relatively high. This base needs to be adjusted.
Thailand’s VAT rate is 7%. The law allows for it to be raised to 10% but successive governments have kept the rate unchanged. Many countries charge double-digit VAT rates, with most ranging from 15-25%, the minister noted.
“Consumption taxes are considered a sensitive issue. However, if we increase the rate in a reasonable and appropriate manner, it could serve as a tool to help low-income individuals,” he said.
“The gap between rich and poor would narrow because we would collect taxes based on the same base for everyone.
“If we set the rate low, it means everyone pays less, and the total revenue collected would be lower. If the rate is increased, wealthier individuals would pay more according to their spending, and overall revenue would increase. This money could be used for measures to assist low-income people and for building infrastructure to enhance the country’s competitiveness.”
Monetary and fiscal policy goals
Mr Pichai also said monetary policy must support the private sector and lower costs for residents, while fiscal policy should focus on increasing revenue to address social inequality and drive economic growth.
He said now is an opportune time for domestic investment, given various global changes, including climate change and geopolitical tensions that are prompting shifts in investment bases.
“Thailand is attracting interest from investors, particularly from the US and China, because of its comprehensive potential, strategic location and significant size compared with other Asian nations, as well as an appropriately sized population. These factors also position Thailand well to support investment in green energy,” said Mr Pichai.
He said investment in Thailand had dropped significantly over the past 20 years, now hovering around 20% of GDP, compared with nearly 40% during economic booms.
Encouragingly, investment interest has picked up gradually from both the US and China, particularly in businesses that promote sustainability, such as green energy.
In the past nine months, the value of projects approved by the Board of Investment amounted to about 700 billion baht. By the end of the year, the figure is is expected to reach 1 trillion baht, the highest in decades.
Mr Pichai stressed the government’s priority is to support structural reforms. Monetary policy, meanwhile, must encourage investment by keeping interest rates low to reduce costs.
While lower interest rates may raise concerns about higher inflation that could burden the public, he noted that inflation this year is likely to remain below 1%, possibly around 0.6% or 0.7%. This presents an opportunity for the Bank of Thailand to reduce interest rates.
In October, the central bank unexpectedly cut its key interest rate by a quarter point to 2.25%. However, it has signalled that a further cut at the final meeting of the year on Dec 18 is unlikely.
Weakening the baht
According to Mr Pichai, the second monetary policy is to weaken the baht. However, he acknowledged that this is challenging due to the high level of confidence in the country, which has led to an influx of US dollars, strengthening the local currency.
There must be a way to manage this, such as by transferring international reserves to another account, a strategy used by other countries, which can help weaken the baht, he said.
However, weakening the baht is not something that can be done on a whim; it requires long-term measures. The policy must aim to stabilise the currency and allow it to weaken gradually, he added.
Keeping debt manageable
As for fiscal policy, Mr Pichai argued that the government must support growth, even if it means higher public debt.
The country’s public debt has risen from $4.8 trillion nine years ago to $12 trillion today, but he emphasised that debt levels are less critical than the ability to repay them, and economic growth allows for more flexible fiscal policies.
Over the past two years, according to Mr Pichai, the budget deficit has averaged over 4% of gross domestic product (GDP), which is considered quite high. The government does not want the deficit to be that large.
Ideally, the deficit should be around 3.2%, but for a growing economy, a deficit of up to 3.75% is acceptable.
If GDP grows by 4-5%, the deficit could reach up to 4.2%. The government is striving to foster GDP growth, with both monetary and fiscal policies having to support this goal.
He said the government must also consider increasing savings. As a society with an ageing population, although Thailand has savings from social security and provident funds, these savings will deplete quickly once people retire. This could become a ticking time bomb, he warned.