Thailand has opened an online public hearing on its proposed 450-baht tourism fee for foreign arrivals, but the 27-question survey is available only in Thai despite seeking views from overseas visitors. The consultation, hosted on the Council of State's Digital Government Development Agency law website, (ข้อมูลการรับฟัง) remains open until 28 September. Respondents can submit answers as representatives of state agencies, private entities or members of the public. Translation hurdle for foreign respondents The webpage has a language option in its top-right corner, but it cannot be clicked. A Thai-language message instructs users to right-click and ask their browser to translate the page instead. That may be manageable for users with browser translation tools enabled, but it requires visitors to identify the feature and ensure the translation is working before navigating what the Bangkok Post described as a dense and unintuitive form. The central opening question asks whether respondents agree with collecting a fee from foreign tourists to support tourism management and development, including insurance provision while they travel in Thailand. Other questions ask respondents to agree or disagree with legal definitions, including "foreign tourist", land and maritime checkpoints, and operators. The proposed definition of a foreign tourist is a non-Thai temporarily entering Thailand for travel without generating employment or compensation. Questions on exemptions and payment Question 10 allows multiple answers on whether the fee should apply to groups including diplomatic passport holders and work permit holders, although these groups would not ordinarily be classed as tourists. The questionnaire also asks whether the chairman of the National Tourism Policy Committee should act as the authority under the proposed announcement. It does not offer a "don't know" or "no opinion" choice alongside agree and disagree. Two questions have more immediate practical relevance for travellers. Question 14 asks whether visitors should receive a 30-day grace period when re-entering Thailand after paying on their first arrival, while question 17 asks which payment methods respondents prefer. No implementation date for the proposed 450-baht levy was given in the consultation details. Potentially billions for tourism fund The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has said Thailand aims to restore tourism revenue to its pre-pandemic level of 3 trillion baht within four years. Reaching that target would require tourist numbers approaching pre-2020 levels of around 40 million annually. Thailand recorded 33 million visitors last year. At 450 baht per arrival, that number would have raised 14.8 billion baht for the tourism fund had the levy been in force. Weerasak Kowsurat, adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Suphajee Suthumpun and chairman of a visitor economy development working group, said: "We need to listen to as many perspectives as possible in order to implement the foreign tourism fee efficiently." Related story Thailand-seeks-foreign-views-on-450-baht-tourism-fee Join the discussion? 30 August 2026
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