Athletes, Civil Society Oppose Four Sin Tax Law Amendments

Athletes and civil society join forces to oppose amendments to four laws on sin taxes. The Sports Fund Committee warns of impacts on the sports sector and public health care, revealing that under the new system only 50% of funds would be disbursable in the first half of the fiscal year.

October 22, 2026 – The Health Promotion Movement (HPM) together with the Stop Gambling Foundation, Social Power Foundation, Health System Reform Network, and Public Media for Civil Rights Network organized a forum titled "Abolish Specific Taxes, Return to Normal Budget System: Funds – Can Athletes Really Survive?" inviting relevant stakeholders to participate.

Thirapat Kaha Wong, Secretary of the Health Promotion Movement, stated that the core of the proposed amendments to all four laws is the abolition of earmarked surcharges previously collected from the alcohol and tobacco industries, replacing them with annual budget allocations. This would exempt the alcohol and tobacco businesses from paying approximately 14 billion baht in additional surcharges, yet this money would not return as state revenue. Moreover, the government would need to find budget allocations for all four agencies, which is extremely difficult in an economic crisis where revenue barely covers expenditure. Whenever the political side deems an agency unnecessary or an obstacle to government work affecting capital interests, it may allocate less budget than required. The claim that increased excise taxes would cover this shortfall is highly unlikely.

"In the past, before the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) existed, the budget allocated through the Department of Disease Control for tobacco control saw its proportion decline steadily from 32 million in 1991 to just 10 million in 1996. Currently, the annual budgets of many public organizations have been continuously reduced, insufficient for effective operations," Thirapat said.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Yutthakarn Rattanamas, advisor to the House Committee on Sports and President of the Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Sports Association, stated that amending the National Sports Development Fund Act to shift budget management authority to the Budget Bureau could severely impact the budget disbursement process and national sports development. The 27th House Committee on Sports invited relevant agencies to clarify information, and the preliminary conclusion is that changes under the new law would limit budget disbursement to the fund in the first and second quarters to only 50% of the budget, compared to the previous 70% advance disbursement, because sin tax collection in the early fiscal year does not meet 100% targets.

"Sports require year-round training and preparation; they cannot wait for disbursement only in the second half of the year. Limiting the budget to just 50% in the first six months will create a heavy burden for provincial and national sports associations that must front the costs," Pol. Lt. Gen. Yutthakarn said.

The government's claim that the amendment ensures transparency in auditing is unlikely to be the main reason, as each fund already has internal audit systems, fund oversight committees, and external oversight from the State Audit Office and the Office of the Auditor General. Centralizing the budget appears to be a power grab that reduces the funds' role.

Narong Thiammek of the Thai Walking-Running Club Foundation stated his disagreement with the government's plan to amend the four laws, viewing it as an unreasonable policy.