Transcript of paper: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the OECD, that is the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and Banking Policy here in Thailand. Unfortunately we have been dealing with this OECD stuff for quite a while now (sorry, I have to get my things in order here) with this OECD stuff for quite a while now, some months. Frankly I blame a lot of this on the recently dismissed government here in Thailand that has been replaced, and I am hoping that we are going to see some turn around on this. 

That said, I thought of making this video initially after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Thai lawyer updates retirees on personal income tax. I urge those who are watching this video, go check out that article; I'm going to get into a different thrust talking about the OECD and banking. Worth pointing out, as I have discussed in other videos, this is an actual colleague. This is a real Thai professional who is entitled to dispense advice regarding Tax Matters, very different than all these frauds we have seen running around who have no business providing any type of legal advice regarding Tax matters here in Thailand pursuant to the restricted occupations which I have discussed at length. That said, I urge those who are watching this video, check out that article for more detail there. Quoting this excerpt, quote: "We will have to wait and see if other initiatives are in motion before/after the next general election, likely to be held in March or April 2026. There has been talk of Thailand moving to a tax regime based on an individual's worldwide income wherever earned, but that would require an Act of Parliament. Negative Income Tax, which requires a database of the earnings of virtually all residents to channel welfare to the most needy, could be favoured." Yeah, it shouldn't be. That is redistribution of wealth; that is socialism. What is it Stalin said? A Socialist is a Communist with patience, or I've heard it translated, Communism is Socialism in a hurry. Well Keynesianism is Socialism by subterfuge. Any redistribution of wealth is unnecessary. A Negative Income Tax is ridiculous. It's the attempt to put a carrot i.e. “free money” so that we get more people to go sign up to file tax returns that haven't heretofore needed to file anything with the Thai Government, and these are a lot of people that live hand to mouth and shouldn't do it anyway; it is not a good idea. So this Negative Income Tax that's for the birds as well. No need for that, and yes it does require an Act of Parliament and unlike this article, most articles out there that I read in the Press just seem to gloss over that. It is also my understanding, OECD hasn't been passed by Parliament either. We are just exploring this and yet we are still having to deal with all this invasive banking, this nonsense of capping the amount of transfer, the amount of funds that can be transferred in a bank transfer digitally. All kinds of nonsense seems to be stemming from this OECD and then meanwhile we haven't even seen an Act of Parliament, an actual promulgated law. That said, quoting further: "Minister of Finance Ekniti has represented Thailand on committees of the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) which is known to favour Negative Income Tax. It's too early to speculate on the details." Well fine, he's been on a committee. I don't know if he necessarily agrees with this stuff.

I think it is worth pointing out, I am going to throw this up on screen. This is a memorandum for the Secretary of the Treasury. This is from whitehouse.gov. United States Trade Representative, The Permanent Representative of the United States to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Subject: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Tax Deal. Quote: "The OECD Global Tax Deal supported under the prior Administration," so this was an Executive Order promulgated almost immediately when Trump came into Office over in the United States. I think it's very compelling insofar as he provides context. For anybody that wants to know why I am so against OECD here in Thailand, why Thailand needs to reverse course on all of this stuff having to do with OECD. It's not doing this country any darn good; it is corrosive to our national sovereignty in Thailand for reasons I will get to here in a moment. Quote: "The OECD Global Tax Deal supported under the prior Administration not only allows extra territorial jurisdiction…" - that is legal jurisdiction over Thailand, or any other country that gets on board with this thing. Basically some outside organization is telling that country what the law is and how it is going to be applied - 'extra territorial jurisdiction'. Quoting further: "…over American Income but also limits our nation's ability to enact tax policies that serve the interests of American businesses and workers. Because of the Global Tax Deal and other discriminatory foreign tax practices, American companies may face retaliatory international tax regimes if the United States does not comply with foreign tax policy objectives." And the same can be said for Thailand if we get on board with this. We need to get away from this sooner rather than later. Thailand's national sovereignty must be maintained autonomously at all costs, and we have to zealously guard against these type of intrusions from these undue foreign influences. Quoting further: "This memorandum recaptures our nation's sovereignty and economic competitiveness by clarifying that the Global Tax Deal has no force or effect in the United States."

As I get to in another video where I am discussing the US-Thai Treaty of Amity - for those who are unaware, America and Thailand have a long-standing diplomatic relationship that goes back over 200 years; there's a Treaty between our two countries that goes back 191 years that clarifies the specifics of our bilateral relationship and the legalities associated therewith - it is my personal opinion that the OECD, especially in light of Mr. Trump's memo, is completely out of line with the provisions of the Treaty of Amity as I get into in another video. 

Long story short with regard to this here in Thailand, I am very hopeful that with this new Government, we are going to see a reversal of this really unfortunate move that has happened especially under the past government where we drifted into this OECD environment. It's not something that's going to be good for Thailand long-term for the exact reasons pointed out by Mr. Trump as it not being good for America, especially as it pertains to her national sovereignty, I think the same can be said for Thailand. I am very hopeful we will see a U-turn or at least some kind of mitigation or pumping of the brakes on further pursuance of these policies under OECD. That being said, it's not a foregone conclusion exactly what's going to happen, and we will certainly be keeping you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.