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Published on March 13, 2008

I remember advertisements and films showing people taking refuge from the rain in a telephone booth. It's true that the concrete underneath makes a booth extra heavy and difficult to move. Still, it is beyond my imagination that a telephone booth could be regarded as a house.

But the Supreme Court does not agree.

Recently, TOT ran into an argument with the Nakhon Phanom municipality over household taxes on TOT's 182 telephone booths dotted around town.

The first court ruled in favour of TOT, sparing it from paying Bt45,600. Nakhon Phanom municipality opted to seek the Supreme Court's help.

And on Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the booths were structures that TOT used to generate revenue.

The court also said that when the municipal officers estimated the tax, the booths did not move, and thus TOT was liable under the Household Tax Act and must pay the Bt45,600.

TOT had been the sole provider of these booths, but later, with privatisation, True and TT&T were given concessions to provide phone service in Bangkok and provincial areas, respectively.

The ruling leaves a big question about whether it will be referred to if other municipalities, including Bangkok, launch similar cases against owners of public telephone booth.

It was reported earlier that Bangkok had tried in vain to levy household tax on TOT telephone booths.

But now, Bangkok has a strong precedent to back its case if it ever decides to revive that lost cause.

And I bet it will, given that Bangkok and other cities are ready to do anything to raise extra funds to finance their projects.

If 182 telephone booths mean a tax bill of Bt45,600, and there are one million booths nationwide, the owners would need to pay almost Bt251 million - an amount huge enough to sink TOT and other phone providers into a deep financial hole.

I really fear that the companies may move their booths to avoid paying the tax. That would be a big headache.

Ages ago, when mobile phones were new and affordable only for the super rich, public telephone booths were hugely important, particularly in an emergency. What's a faster means to contact help than the telephone?

To date, although nearly 50 million people own personal mobile phones, we cannot ignore that many poor people cannot afford regular meals, let alone a cheap mobile.

If they're caught in an emergency, where can they go?

achara_d@nationgroup.com

Achara Deboonme

The Nation