Abstract
Thailand has enacted the Excise Tax Act B.E. 2560 and relevant regulations since 2017. As a result, the structure and tax rates of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) have been adjusted with an intention to reduce sugar intake from SSBs. The majority of SSBs containing sugar more than 6 grams/100 ml. have been taxed with different rates according to the sugar contents. However, dairy products have been exempted. The objective of this study was to monitor SSBs’ prices and sugar content, compared between pre and post SSBs tax adjustment. This study used a comparative analysis of prices of and sugar content in SSBs from two surveys (March 2015 and March 2018) and used Mann-Whitney U test to test differences between pre and post SSBs tax adjustment. The results indicated that overall of SSBs’ prices were increased after the tax adjustment (+11.1% by median), both domestic beverages (+12.7% by median) and imported beverages (+18.1% by median). Sugar contents in domestic SSBs were declined (-9.6%), while in imported SSBs increased. In addition, high sugar content in dairy products was not decreased. Conclusion, the study shows that the SSBs tax adjustment may provide a positive change in terms of prices and sugar content as intended, except for imported SSBs and dairy products. Therefore, the excise tax should cover all SSBs and there should be complementary measures to reduce SSBs consumption.
