Thailand's carbon tax will affect nearly 50,000 energy-intensive factories

If the Thai government imposes a carbon tax, it is estimated that 45,163 factories in energy-intensive industries must report greenhouse gas emissions and pay taxes. The top five energy-intensive industries are power plants, chemicals and chemical products, non-metal products, food and beverages. The agency predicts that the tax rate range will be US$0.5-50 per ton of carbon dioxide.

The Excise Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance of Thailand introduced a progressive tax rate based on carbon dioxide emissions for the first time when it revised the car tax in 2016. In 2022, Thailand's Consumption Tax Department began to study the collection of carbon taxes, including indirect collection of products and direct collection of production processes under the measures of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS).

Kaitai Research Center believes that no matter which method is adopted, the implementation timetable should be announced in advance, so that operators have time to adjust and adapt. For example, direct carbon tax on the production process must be implemented step by step, because the relevant departments must design the measurement process of greenhouse gas emissions, and also need to comply with the new EU emission regulations.