Former KR Turned Farmers Protest New Tax

Some 200 farmers in Battam­bang province protested the government’s push to increase the excise tax on corn Saturday, saying the tax will eat up the small profits they seek by exporting their product to Thailand.

The demonstration, at a border checkpoint in Phnom Proek district, follows a similar protest Thurs­day by corn farmers in neigh­boring Kamrieng district.

The farmers say the government’s decision to revamp its taxing methods—taxing exported corn by weight instead of a set fee on a full sack—significantly in­creas­es farmers’ expenses from roughly $1.75 to $2.50 per ton.

The tax hike will hinder sales to Thai companies that traditionally pay more than local buyers, and will mostly benefit a domestic busi­ness consortium run by associates of Sokimex Co tycoon Sok Kong, allowing the consortium to buy up the corn at lower prices, farmers said.

The increased tax is a new pro­vincial policy, set up to control ex­ports to Thailand, finance local in­frast­ructure and pay fees to an un­named private company that runs the border weighing stations, said San Heap, Battambang’s first depu­ty governor. The decision dates to late last year.

Those who protested Saturday, mostly former Khmer Rouge fighters turned farmers, demanded that the government revert to former taxing procedures and threatened to destroy the scale used to weigh the crops, said You Oeurng, the district police chief.

He said authorities defused the protests by acquiescing to the farmers’ demands, but would not say whether the government agreed to lower the tax.

“This is the first time that former Khmer Rouge have demonstrated here. I was worried they would destroy the scale, but I persuaded them not to do it,” You Oeurng said.

Protests in Kamrieng turned vio­­lent last week, as more than 200 demonstrators destroyed the bor­der scales even as local police and military police threatened to fire on the crowd, said district po­lice chief Pong Sim. No injuries were reported in eith­er protest.

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