Date of Award

3-2015

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Law (SJD)

Department

Law

First Advisor

Dr. Christian Nwachukwu Okeke

Second Advisor

Dr. Sompong Suchartikul

Third Advisor

Dr. Nancy Yonge

Abstract

This study will examine how a modification to Thailand’s Real Property Tax and Capital Gains Tax systems, along with the implementation of a Death Tax scheme will provide the needed resources to help support the economic function of government in Thailand and help mitigate the widening economic disparity among the social classes. A major reform in Thailand’s tax system will create more benefits, provide resources and opportunities, and assist in reducing or (even completely) eliminating the motivation of Thailand’s working class to engage in acts of corruption. If we stop corruption from the “bottom” of Thailand’s social class by removing the “need” of the working class to engage in acts of corruption, we can then begin to change the culture of how corruption is viewed in Thailand. Because without this change in culture, Thailand’s anti-corruption laws can never be truly effective regardless of how perfect the law is drafted. This research will also delve into how implementing a Death Tax system in Thailand can act not only as a means to preventing the undue accumulation of excessive wealth but also serve as a way of taking back the ill-gotten gains from those who acquired their wealth through acts of corruption; so that the wealthy corrupt do not get to keep it all. Finally, this study will look to the tax laws and systems used in United States and the Philippines and provide a comparative analysis to what is currently in place in Thailand.

Chapter 1 of this study provides the history, country statistics, and cursory overview of Thailand, the U.S., and the Philippines legal systems. Chapter 2 is a review of the literature, providing definitions and examples involving the Death tax, Capital Gains tax and Property tax. It also looks to the opinions of leading experts regarding the justification for the Death tax and whether the tax is still viable today. It then examines opinions of Thailand’s leading experts regarding this tax. Chapter 3 explores the current Estate Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Real Property Tax rules of the U.S. and the Philippines and compares them to Thailand’s existing system. Chapter 4 presents the analysis of how the addition of a Death tax and reformation of Thailand’s Capital Gains and Property Tax systems can serve as a catalyst to helping combat corruption in Thailand. Chapter 5 advances the implications and conclusions.

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