As part of Coconuts Bangkok’s ongoing Traffic Horror Week (and Bangkok’s ongoing Traffic Horror Century), we’re pleased to announce that the Excise Department has released an estimate for likely recipients of the “first-car” rebate claim and that that multitude numbers close to one million.
The Bangkok Post is reporting that 834,000 first-time car buyers have already applied for the rebate, a number that, if approved, would mean that the government is on the hook for THB61 billion.
Lest you balk at subsidizing your neighbor’s Corolla, let it be known that the rebates will come out of taxes that car buyers pay upon purchase, rather than out of the government’s general coffers.
Representatives of the Finance Ministry said the rebates would be paid out in installments throughout the year and that the Excise Department would continue accepting applications through Dec. 31.
Unsurprisingly, the government’s finance department is giving credit to the first-car tax rebate for increasing the number of cars owned by Thai citizens. Deputy Finance Minister Tanusak Lekuthai said that without the program, Thais were buying only 500,000 to 600,000 cars per year, whereas with the program in place, Thais are now shelling out for upwards of 800,000 automobiles.
No word yet on whether the new car owners have cultivated a healthy disdain for the city-clogging traffic of which they are now a part.
