Airports Raise International Departure Charge in Thailand

Foreigners coming to Thailand will pay for the debt and shortage of the Thai Government. Money has to come from somewhere and as the Government is not willing to reform and cut costs, the foreigners have to pay for it. The next that will be done is in a few months complaining that less tourists arrive, and make incentive to attrack more. They have however no idea waht they are doing. The too strong THB, the higher taxes for hotels in Phuket as example, the more expensive airport taxes, the looming 300 THB or more entrance fee... Go on Thailand, you will are already very expensive for tourists and will become even more, so less people are willing to visit you. Don't complain

Oh well.

Got to get the money in some how.

4 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Foreigners coming to Thailand will pay for the debt and shortage of the Thai Government. Money has to come from somewhere and as the Government is not willing to reform and cut costs, the foreigners have to pay for it.

The airport departure charge applies to Thai international travellers also, not just foreigners.

4 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

the looming 300 THB or more entrance fee.

That entrance fee does not exist but has been a suggestion for several years...it is not "looming" by any means.

This was a report on Friday on Aseannow.

ietnam’s tourism sector is expanding rapidly, with the country welcoming more than 21 million foreign visitors in 2025, around 20% higher than the previous year. The growth has strengthened Vietnam’s position as a major tourism destination in Southeast Asia and increased competition with Thailand, particularly in the important Chinese visitor market.

Today we see this

Thailand has increased the Passenger Service Charge (PSC) for international departing passengers from 20 June 2026, raising the fee by 390 baht from 730 baht to 1,120 baht per person. The higher charge applies to passengers travelling on international flights from six major airports across the country.

Then they scratch there heads with declining tourists and the Rise of numbers to Vietnam instead of returning to Thailand.

11 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Foreigners coming to Thailand will pay for the debt and shortage of the Thai Government. Money has to come from somewhere and as the Government is not willing to reform and cut costs, the foreigners have to pay for it. The next that will be done is in a few months complaining that less tourists arrive, and make incentive to attrack more. They have however no idea waht they are doing. The too strong THB, the higher taxes for hotels in Phuket as example, the more expensive airport taxes, the looming 300 THB or more entrance fee... Go on Thailand, you will are already very expensive for tourists and will become even more, so less people are willing to visit you. Don't complain

Nobody is going to change their holiday destination over an extra £10 departure charge.

Yes, we all know the Thai baht is strong, you mention it in almost every post you make, it is not 1990s any more.

So in your opinion WHanson why are tourists turning away from Thailand. Give me half a dozen reasons for us to keep faith in Thailand as oppsed to Viet or Cambodia.

LHR to BKK, The Passenger Service Charge is GBP 54.70 to the Airport plus Air Passenger Duty of GBP 106.00 to the Government.

That's not including the Passenger Drop-Off Charge of GBP 7.00.

34 minutes ago, wil iam not said:

LHR to BKK, The Passenger Service Charge is GBP 54.70 to the Airport plus Air Passenger Duty of GBP 106.00 to the Government.

That's not including the Passenger Drop-Off Charge of GBP 7.00.

£253 Business. Sometimes better to transfer through another country with non punitive fees.

Many countries charge an airport tax in one form or another, you just don't notice because it's included in the ticket price. Thailand isn't doing anything different, and the charges are comparatively small. In deciding holiday destination the airport tax really wont hold any great significance.

I love higher taxes on the rich international travers. People flying business should pay at least double.

29 minutes ago, DaLa said:

£253 Business. Sometimes better to transfer through another country with non punitive fees.

Some of us cannot afford Business.

These fees are tp LEAVE Heathrow, would you not pay some sort of tax if there was an intermediary airport stop and take off?

And is there an Entry Tax into Thailand?

1 minute ago, wil iam not said:

Some of us cannot afford Business.

These fees are tp LEAVE Heathrow, would you not pay some sort of tax if there was an intermediary airport stop and take off?

And is there an Entry Tax into Thailand?

Do you not like taxing the rich?

9 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Do you not like taxing the rich?

No; as it costs me a lot more money that I can use for myself.

10 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Do you not like taxing the rich?

thats an excellent point. folks that can afford to go to thailand are far better off than the poor people tourists exploit

2 minutes ago, Why bother said:

No; as it costs me a lot more money that I can use for myself.

its a bar fine, deal with it

I'm looking forward to benefiting from the infrastructure improvements that are going to be made with this additional tax money.

4 hours ago, WHansen said:

Nobody is going to change their holiday destination over an extra £10 departure charge.

Yes, we all know the Thai baht is strong, you mention it in almost every post you make, it is not 1990s any more.

Nobody need to change it as people dont come at all. Thailand is getting too expensive, but you don't understand that. It is not the raise, but you need to count everything, and you will find out that there are better and cheaper destinations to have a holiday.

34 minutes ago, BangkokHank said:

I'm looking forward to benefiting from the infrastructure improvements that are going to be made with this additional tax money.

Suvarnabhumi is being constantly upgraded and improved.

18 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Foreigners coming to Thailand will pay for the debt and shortage of the Thai Government. Money has to come from somewhere and as the Government is not willing to reform and cut costs, the foreigners have to pay for it. The next that will be done is in a few months complaining that less tourists arrive, and make incentive to attrack more. They have however no idea waht they are doing. The too strong THB, the higher taxes for hotels in Phuket as example, the more expensive airport taxes, the looming 300 THB or more entrance fee... Go on Thailand, you will are already very expensive for tourists and will become even more, so less people are willing to visit you. Don't complain

No they will not. The fee has been explained multiple times. The airports need upgrades and investment. It is fair and equitable that the people using the services pay for those investments. And has been explained many times, the Thai fee is consistent with other international airports' fees.

The fee applies to all international flights which means that Thai people will be paying this fee too. Do you know anything about Thailand's air traffic? More than 3/4 of its international air traffic is regional. Thailand has millions of people who have the income to support international travel. They don't all live on Issan farms growing rice or working Pattaya beer bars. 1 million+ Thai nationals were recorded as entering Japan in 2025. The 2026 data shows a 7.2% increase in Thai nationals visiting japan - Thailand 557,800 visitors (+7.2%) https://www.nationthailand.com/business/economy/40066678

The days of 2500 baht luxury hotel rooms are over and are not coming back. yes, costs have increased in Thailand, but they are still a fraction of what they are elsewhere. I have work visits lined up in the coming months and am in shock over the cost of my hotel rates around the world. Have you been to Singapore or Tokyo lately? No one will be bypassing Thailand because of the fee.

8 hours ago, BarraMarra said:

So in your opinion WHanson why are tourists turning away from Thailand. Give me half a dozen reasons for us to keep faith in Thailand as oppsed to Viet or Cambodia.

Because it's chock full of Brits, pissing and moaning about everything Thai. That's when they're not pissing and moaning about their homeland.

When are you leaving?

4 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Nobody need to change it as people dont come at all. Thailand is getting too expensive, but you don't understand that. It is not the raise, but you need to count everything, and you will find out that there are better and cheaper destinations to have a holiday.

Benidorm's quiet this year. Off you go.

8 hours ago, BarraMarra said:

So in your opinion WHanson why are tourists turning away from Thailand. Give me half a dozen reasons for us to keep faith in Thailand as oppsed to Viet or Cambodia.

just one , my GF who is half Thai and half Vietnamees tells me that Vietnam suffers much from more corruption and all kind of scams than Thailand.

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The AOT President stated the additional revenue — projected at 10 Billion Thai Baht annually — will fund expanded passenger terminals, automated Common Use Passenger Processing Systems, and upgraded safety technology, including the new Suvarnabhumi South Terminal.

But why only for International departures?

18 hours ago, BarraMarra said:

Dit was een verslag op vrijdag op Aseannow.

de toeristische sector van Vietnam breidt zich snel uit, waarbij het land in 2025 ruim 21 miljoen buitenlandse bezoekers verwelkomt, ongeveer 20% meer dan het jaar daarvoor. De groei heeft de positie van Vietnam als belangrijke toeristische bestemming in Zuidoost-Azië versterkt en de concurrentie met Thailand vergroot, vooral op de belangrijke Chinese bezoekersmarkt.

Vandaag zien we dit

Thailand heeft de Passenger Service Charge (PSC) voor internationale vertrekkende passagiers vanaf 20 juni 2026 verhoogd, waardoor de vergoeding met 390 baht is verhoogd van 730 baht naar 1.120 baht per persoon. De hogere heffing geldt voor passagiers die op internationale vluchten reizen vanaf zes grote luchthavens in het hele land.

Dan krabben ze daar met afnemende toeristen en de stijging van het aantal naar Vietnam in plaats van terug te keren naar Thailand.

See also my comment on that article from last Friday, you can’t really blame them – things just take a bit longer for the Thais – but one day they’ll realise it, when it’s too late.

8 minutes ago, 10000Baht said:

The AOT President stated the additional revenue — projected at 10 Billion Thai Baht annually — will fund expanded passenger terminals, automated Common Use Passenger Processing Systems, and upgraded safety technology, including the new Suvarnabhumi South Terminal.

But why only for International departures?

Domestic departures don't need the same level of security compliance in order to meet the requirements of foreign countries.

The logistics of pax and baggage handling is significantly less than that of an international airport.

There are 10 international airports in Thailand but only 6 are considered primary, versus over 28 solely domestic airports. Maybe around half of those have scheduled 'primary' services.

Domestic air passenger volume is a fraction of international quantities.

The existing tax on domestic departures is adequate.

15 hours ago, WHansen said:

Nobody is going to change their holiday destination over an extra £10 departure charge.

Agreed. When it’s included in the price of the ticket, tourists in particular won’t notice. I don’t really know how Thai people will react, if at all.

The danger is that after no negative reaction, in six months time it gets raised again, and then again and so on, until it DOES make a difference.

If I were the Thai authorities I would be careful about not overplaying a pretty strong hand based on traveller indifference and ignorance.

This tax doesn’t make a difference, until it does.

Politicians have never seen a tax they don't like. They are particularly fond of taxes where the people paying them are not allowed to vote in their elections. That's why the outrageous hotel taxes in the US are so popular.

wow , so only a 50% instant increase

did the operators not have massive profits already

did the people throwing the luggage onto the plane also got a 50% increase

or does it stick only to the shareholders, as usual