BANGKOK: Fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra hit out at “tyranny” on Wednesday via a cryptic tweet quoting a French Enlightenment thinker in his first comments since his sister fled overseas.
Yingluck Shinawatra, who like her brother was also booted from office by a coup, dramatically disappeared days before a court was about to deliver judgment in a criminal negligence trial.
Party and junta sources say she went to join her brother, who lives in self-exile in Dubai.
On Wednesday Thaksin broke a long public silence, issuing tweets in both English and Thai that quoted 18th century French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu.
“Montesquieu once said ‘There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice’,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
It is the first time Thaksin has used Twitter in more than two years, in an apparent swipe at the military rulers who forced him out of office in 2006 and toppled his sister’s administration in 2014.
Yingluck faced up to 10 years in prison and a lifetime ban from politics had she been convicted by Thailand’s Supreme Court last Friday. But she was a no-show, forcing the court to delay its ruling and issue a warrant for her arrest.
Thaksin fled overseas in 2008, two years after the coup that toppled him, to escape a graft conviction he says was politically motivated.
“That tweet after so long reflects Thaksin’s anger,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a former Thai diplomat and an academic at Kyoto University.
“I suspect Yingluck and Thaksin will continue to find a political space in Thailand (from overseas)... they want to take revenge” on their enemies, he added.
The Shinawatra political dynasty began under Thaksin in 2001 with a series of groundbreaking welfare schemes that won them votes and the loyalty of the rural poor.
But their popularity rattled the royalist and army-aligned elite, who assailed successive governments linked to the clan with coups, court cases and protests.
The period since the first coup has been dubbed the “Lost Decade,” with frequent deadly street protests, short-lived governments and the return of entrenched military rule.
Thaksin hits out at Thailand ‘tyranny’ in cryptic tweet
Thaksin hits out at Thailand ‘tyranny’ in cryptic tweet
Meta to charge Arab advertisers extra fee for reaching European audiences
- US tech giant told advertisers it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms to offset digital service taxes
- Charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based
LONDON: Meta will from July 1 impose location-based surcharges on advertisers targeting audiences in six European countries, a move that will directly affect Arab businesses that run campaigns across the continent.
The US tech giant announced it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to offset digital service taxes imposed by individual governments.
Crucially, the charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based.
That means Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian or other Arab companies paying to reach consumers in the UK, France or Italy will face the additional costs regardless of their own country’s tax arrangements with Meta.
Fees will apply at 2 percent for ads reaching UK audiences, 3 percent for France, Italy and Spain, and 5 percent for Austria and Turkiye.
“If you deliver $100 in ads to Italy, where there is a 3% location fee, you will be charged $100 (ad delivery), plus $3 (location fee), for $103 total,” the company wrote in an email to an advertiser initially reported by Bloomberg. “Note that any applicable VAT will be calculated on top of the total amount.”
The taxes have been introduced at different points, starting with France in 2019, though not the EU as a bloc.
Many tech companies report substantial sales in Europe and millions of users but pay minimal tax on profits. The goal is to claw back locally derived economic value, Bloomberg reported.
The move follows similar decisions by Google and Amazon, which have also begun passing European digital tax costs on to advertisers.
For Arab brands with growing European footprints, particularly in fashion, travel, hospitality and media, the new fees add another layer of cost to campaigns already subject to currency and targeting complexities.
Digital services taxes, levied as a percentage of revenues earned by major tech platforms in individual countries, have drawn criticism from Washington, which argues they unfairly target US companies.
Meta has been reached for comments.
