The Excise Department says the carbon tax structure will include carbon emitted by the industrial supply chain in the future.
Carbon taxes are levied on coal, oil products, natural gas and other carbon dioxide-emitting products that increase proportionately with the amount of emissions being generated.
Ekniti Nitithanprapas, director-general of the department, said the agency needs to conduct a study of carbon tax collection measures and jointly develop the standards for measuring emissions with relevant parties and experts, particularly the Energy and Industry ministries.
Mr Ekniti said Thailand's carbon tax structure must comply with international standards, especially the EU's stringent Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), as it considers carbon emissions in the production process, whether energy used in the production process is clean energy, and the total carbon emitted by the industry supply chain.
Thai business operators need to bring their production processes and operations in line with new global standards, he said.
The department is in the process of jointly drafting a carbon tax structure with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization, as well as setting up a team to study the CBAM to come up with a carbon tax that meets international standards.
Mr Ekniti said adjusting to more stringent global standards would cushion the Thai economy against future changes. He said the country learned an important lesson with the EU's ban on Thai seafood exports in 2015 as the result of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing violations.
The comprehensive IUU regulation covers all aspects of fishing activities, including whether imported seafoods are transported by a vessel with the required permit and/or whether any forced labour is being used.
The US is considering adoption of the Clean Competition Act, which would establish a carbon pricing mechanism for domestically produced goods as well as setting a carbon border adjustment mechanism for prices of energy-intensive imports.
The top six revenue earners for the Excise Department are automobiles, beer, tobacco, fuel, liquor, and non-alcoholic beverages, respectively.
Taxes on automobiles and fuel, which generate excessive carbon dioxide emissions, account for around 70% of the total revenue.