Thailand plans 3,000-baht hotel subsidy from October

What a waste of money, and surely now with the plans that an entrance fee in April next year of 450THB ( instead of previous proposed 300 THB) will come. Kill the tourist industry but pretend you are helping. And yes I know that there will be people who claim that 450 THB is not so much, but if you calculate all extra cost especially travelling with a family, Thailand is getting too expensive.

13 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

What a waste of money, and surely now with the plans that an entrance fee in April next year of 450THB ( instead of previous proposed 300 THB) will come. Kill the tourist industry but pretend you are helping. And yes I know that there will be people who claim that 450 THB is not so much, but if you calculate all extra cost especially travelling with a family, Thailand is getting too expensive.

This is aimed at Thai's travelling domestically so nothing to do with the 450THB Entrance Tax being charged next year (which Thai's don't need to pay even if they are coming in from overseas).

Can only speak from personal experience but when they did the "Travel Together" programme just after Covid, it really encouraged us to do more domestic travelling & in doing so giving a needed boost to hotels/restaurants etc... that were really struggling.

I think it's a great idea, even if it does mean that I end up spending more on travel that I maybe wouldn't have done otherwise.

The scheme will give domestic tourism a short, sharp bump, but only in the Thai‑citizen segment.

Hotels in secondary provinces should see the biggest lift, because five entitlements per person plus a 500‑baht coupon pushes people toward short weekend trips. The co‑payment model also spreads spending to small operators restaurants, OTOP, and spas rather than concentrating it in big chains.

But, it will only benefit those who can navigate Paotang, and only until the 500,000 slots are gone.

Foreign residents won’t be part of the scheme either.

I wonder if an Expat falang can take advantage of this too.. by perhaps having his wife do all the booking etc.

11 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I wonder if an Expat falang can take advantage of this too.. by perhaps having his wife do all the booking etc.

That's how we did it last time...

10 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I wonder if an Expat falang can take advantage of this too.. by perhaps having his wife do all the booking etc.

Of course! The wife and I used it extensively during the last one when we were all coming out of lock down,

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

I wonder if an Expat falang can take advantage of this too.. by perhaps having his wife do all the booking etc.

And hide in the car as the wife is checking in.......

5 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Thailand is preparing to offer 500,000 domestic travel subsidies under the proposed Thai Travel Thai Plus 2026 scheme, with the government paying half of accommodation costs up to 3,000 baht per entitlement.

Now, all we have to do is wait for the hotels to put their prices up, to take advantage, once again, without the customer actually saving a great deal of money.

It happened the last time this 'promotion' occurred and it Will happen again. :(

1 minute ago, hughrection said:

Now, all we have to do is wait for the hotels to put their prices up, to take advantage, once again, without the customer actually saving a great deal of money.

It happened the last time this 'promotion' occurred and it Will happen again. :(

We booked at least 5 stays the last round and never ran into this at all. We found all the hotels and restaurants happy to be involved as they were making more money with no price gouging involved.

2 minutes ago, marin said:

We booked at least 5 stays the last round and never ran into this at all. We found all the hotels and restaurants happy to be involved as they were making more money with no price gouging involved.

If you check the price before the promotion happens (maybe a few weeks beforehand) and then check again when the promotion starts, you will see what I mean. I am sure that there are smaller hotels that appreciate the new business and won't price gouge, but the majority will. I hope I am wrong because I really need a break away this year. :)

2 hours ago, SamSpade said:

This is aimed at Thai's travelling domestically so nothing to do with the 450THB Entrance Tax being charged next year (which Thai's don't need to pay even if they are coming in from overseas).

Can only speak from personal experience but when they did the "Travel Together" programme just after Covid, it really encouraged us to do more domestic travelling & in doing so giving a needed boost to hotels/restaurants etc... that were really struggling.

I think it's a great idea, even if it does mean that I end up spending more on travel that I maybe wouldn't have done otherwise.

so you can travel and go on holiday... You don't live of a 400THB a day wage.. They are struggling every day to make ends meet. You not, so who is being helped with this scheme?? not the big earners and businesses....and hotels and restaurants are not struggling. They are overpriced and think the sky is not even the limit. Greed is ruining the business. In other countries you can eat much cheaper at the moment than in Thailand

Edited August 15Aug 15 by ikke1959

5 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

so you can travel and go on holiday... You don't live of a 400THB a day wage.. They are struggling every day to make ends meet. You not, so who is being helped with this scheme?? not the big earners and businesses....and hotels and restaurants are not struggling. They are overpriced and think the sky is not even the limit. Greed is ruining the business. In other countries you can eat much cheaper at the moment than in Thailand

Were you in Thailand during/just after Covid? - Hotels like the Hilton in Hua Hin felt like they had tumbelweed rolling through them they were that empty - We stayed in an LK Hotel where only the 2nd floor had rooms available (& lights on) as they'd shuttered the rest of the Hotel, do you really think a hotel is going to pay to keep all of it's staff on the payroll at times like that. Countless Bars, Restaurants and even a few hotels went under during at that time.

Anybody travelling means more money/business for the Hotels & Restaurants yes, but this translates to more staff being employed (+ earning tips) and a trickledown into the local community in terms of local shops, transport even hiring a chair on the beach.

31 minutes ago, SamSpade said:

Were you in Thailand during/just after Covid? - Hotels like the Hilton in Hua Hin felt like they had tumbelweed rolling through them they were that empty - We stayed in an LK Hotel where only the 2nd floor had rooms available (& lights on) as they'd shuttered the rest of the Hotel, do you really think a hotel is going to pay to keep all of it's staff on the payroll at times like that. Countless Bars, Restaurants and even a few hotels went under during at that time.

Anybody travelling means more money/business for the Hotels & Restaurants yes, but this translates to more staff being employed (+ earning tips) and a trickledown into the local community in terms of local shops, transport even hiring a chair on the beach.

Was Thailand the only country affected by Covid??? It was worldwide and nowhere there is or was a free subsidy ...

50 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

So you can travel and go on holiday... You don't live of a 400THB a day wage.. They are struggling every day to make ends meet. You not, so who is being helped with this scheme?? not the big earners and businesses....and hotels and restaurants are not struggling. They are overpriced and think the sky is not even the limit. Greed is ruining the business. In other countries you can eat much cheaper at the moment than in Thailand

I have absolutely no idea what you are trying to say here. Everybody got a deal. The hotels and restaurants get paid by the government.

2 minutes ago, marin said:

I have absolutely no idea what you are trying to say here. Everybody got a deal. The hotels and restaurants get paid by the government.

I understand you have no clue.... I wrote if you can go on holiday you are not living of a wage of 400 THB a day... you earn more as you can stay in hotels.. Try to find someone who earns 400 THB who is not struggle to make ends meet..Do you think he will go on holiday and stay in a hotel or eat in restaurant because he will get a coupon of 500 THB??? The Government don't need to pay for hotels. Holiday is not a right it is for those who can pay it... and doesn't need to be paid by governments..Hotels and restaurants should become creative in solutions to attrack more people instead of holding their hands up. Or should people get more debts, only to show that they can go on holiday, while they can't pay for it in fact??

1 hour ago, ikke1959 said:

I understand you have no clue.... I wrote if you can go on holiday you are not living of a wage of 400 THB a day... you earn more as you can stay in hotels.. Try to find someone who earns 400 THB who is not struggle to make ends meet..Do you think he will go on holiday and stay in a hotel or eat in restaurant because he will get a coupon of 500 THB??? The Government don't need to pay for hotels. Holiday is not a right it is for those who can pay it... and doesn't need to be paid by governments..Hotels and restaurants should become creative in solutions to attrack more people instead of holding their hands up. Or should people get more debts, only to show that they can go on holiday, while they can't pay for it in fact??

But you do understand that a lot of Thais rely on people travelling for their daily income... E.g. people who work in Hotels, Malls, Shops, Restaurants, Bars, Massage Parlours, Taxi Drivers, Tour Operators, Selling Trinkets, Driving Buses, Boats, Minivans, Renting out Beach chairs, Jetskis etc... so the government had a choice of either somehow handing them money directly & standing by whilst the businesses that they were working in disappeared OR encourage people to travel & spend money in locations that rely on tourism to keep them going until things improved.

The government sets a finite amount of Money/"Tickets" that it has calculated will help bring some relief to areas that are struggling, technically it doesn't matter who gets these & In a way it might be better if foreigners were eligible as we tend to Travel/Spend/Tip more, but, quite rightly, it's limited to Thais (though they can take their foreign family with them).

Edited August 15Aug 15 by SamSpade

1 hour ago, ikke1959 said:

Was Thailand the only country affected by Covid??? It was worldwide and nowhere there is or was a free subsidy ...

Are you serious! UK Government spent £169Billion 2020-2022 on Covid support for Business & Individuals...

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/coronavirus-economic-support-individuals

The latest figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR, the UK’s official economic forecaster) estimate that government Covid support measures totalled £169bn since 2020. Most of this extra spending went to individuals, at £100bn, with the remaining £69bn spent on business support schemes. Almost two thirds of the total was spent in 2020/21 (£126bn), with forecasts for 2021/22 set at £44bn. 

What support was provided for individuals? 

An unprecedented package of support for individuals was announced at the start of the crisis in March 2020. The bulk of support for workers was provided through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS, or ‘furlough’) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). A £20 a week uplift in Universal Credit supported the lowest-paid and unemployed.  

These programmes were wide-ranging in their eligibility and benefited lots of people. Over the course of CJRS, 11.7m jobs were supported, out of a total of around 28.7m jobs eligible for furlough. Of the 5m self-employed workers in the UK, around 2.9m received at least one of the five SEISS grants. When the £20 a week uplift ended there were 5.7m people on Universal Credit. 

Following periods of lockdown, the government initiated different types of schemes to support people find work and encourage economic recovery. The Kickstart scheme provides job placements for people under 25: it has provided 217,000 placements with 100,000 applicants subsequently finding employment. As part of the Restart scheme, long-term unemployed Universal Credit claimants are provided with intensive job searching support under Job Entry Targeted Support. As of 5 January 2022 there had been 176,000 referrals to the programme.  

They even had a limitied scheme at the end of Covid to encourage people to "Eat Out to Help Out" - Not a million miles away from "Travel Together"...

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-a-discount-with-the-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme

27 minutes ago, SamSpade said:

Are you serious! UK Government spent £169Billion 2020-2022 on Covid support for Business & Individuals...

https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/coronavirus-economic-support-individuals

The latest figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR, the UK’s official economic forecaster) estimate that government Covid support measures totalled £169bn since 2020. Most of this extra spending went to individuals, at £100bn, with the remaining £69bn spent on business support schemes. Almost two thirds of the total was spent in 2020/21 (£126bn), with forecasts for 2021/22 set at £44bn. 

What support was provided for individuals? 

An unprecedented package of support for individuals was announced at the start of the crisis in March 2020. The bulk of support for workers was provided through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS, or ‘furlough’) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). A £20 a week uplift in Universal Credit supported the lowest-paid and unemployed.  

These programmes were wide-ranging in their eligibility and benefited lots of people. Over the course of CJRS, 11.7m jobs were supported, out of a total of around 28.7m jobs eligible for furlough. Of the 5m self-employed workers in the UK, around 2.9m received at least one of the five SEISS grants. When the £20 a week uplift ended there were 5.7m people on Universal Credit. 

Following periods of lockdown, the government initiated different types of schemes to support people find work and encourage economic recovery. The Kickstart scheme provides job placements for people under 25: it has provided 217,000 placements with 100,000 applicants subsequently finding employment. As part of the Restart scheme, long-term unemployed Universal Credit claimants are provided with intensive job searching support under Job Entry Targeted Support. As of 5 January 2022 there had been 176,000 referrals to the programme.  

They even had a limitied scheme at the end of Covid to encourage people to "Eat Out to Help Out" - Not a million miles away from "Travel Together"...

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-a-discount-with-the-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme

As stated help for individuals.. But I am wondering if people must be helped to go on holiday...There is no NEED to go on holiday, it is a luxury activity and that is my point. In the Covid situation it was quite different. Even in the article you give is stated:

Business support consisted of a mix of grants, loans, and temporary tax cuts. 

No mention of 50/50 or help to attrack more customers, but the businesses have to find own solutions while the government will give tax cuts, delay of payments or extra loans.. Not a help of subsidy... Please the market must do its job and it is temporarily. It is low season now... But with the plans of the entrance fee the government is not improving things to welcome tourists, as well as all the negative news of the last weeks/months. There is a lot of work to do which can not be solved by a handout. So a waste of money and not needed