TOURIST TAX......300 Baht. Land, Sea, Air....OMG

[KhaoYai]

10 minutes ago, 473geo said:

It's 300 baht!!!

Yes, another 300 baht - on top of the tax tourists already pay. On top of the 400 baht tourists pay to enter national parks and all the other things foreigners are expected to pay more for.

 

At what point do you think the straw breaks the camel's back?

 

Let's put it this way:

 

You need to buy groceries, Tesco are charging 300 baht to simply enter their store, Big C have no entry fee. Are you saying you would choose Tesco?

Edited May 12, 2020 by KhaoYai

[lopburi3]

If my math is working and most recent totals of about 40 million tourists real the amount will only be about 12 billion baht each year - nobody will notice that.

[473geo]

1 minute ago, KhaoYai said:

Yes, another 300 baht - on top of the tax tourists already pay. On top of the 400 baht tourists pay to enter national parks and all the other things foreigners are expected to pay more for.

 

At what point do you think the straw breaks the camel's back?

Camel has enough room for a bale

[anchadian]

13 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

He has not provided any links but at the moment, I don't see anything about covid 19 insurance in his post - quite the opposite.

There was an article in this morning's BP on the same lines that the OP was referring to.

 

Some of you may remember that this was discussed before the covid-19 pandemic but laid to rest when the virus started and this new proposal now includes insurance for covid-19,

Edited May 12, 2020 by anchadian

[liddelljohn]

Tax the 5% Thai Rich and Elites   they have 80%  of the money in Thailand anyway

 

[473geo]

8 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Yes, another 300 baht - on top of the tax tourists already pay. On top of the 400 baht tourists pay to enter national parks and all the other things foreigners are expected to pay more for.

 

At what point do you think the straw breaks the camel's back?

 

Let's put it this way:

 

You need to buy groceries, Tesco are charging 300 baht to simply enter their store, Big C have no entry fee. Are you saying you would choose Tesco?

If I had paid 50,000 baht to travel to either Big C or Tesco, the 300 baht would not phase me if I preferred the products in Tesco

[bwpage3]

Right into someone's pocket!

 

How is that for improving security?

[Captain Monday]

1 hour ago, 473geo said:

They should add another 1200 round it up to 1500 include a 30 day medical insurance policy, off the back of this create an annual policy fee of 14,400  ????

Great idea.

[Sujo]

13 minutes ago, 473geo said:

If I had paid 50,000 baht to travel to either Big C or Tesco, the 300 baht would not phase me if I preferred the products in Tesco

Who pays that cost for a flight.

 

but if you walk to those places will you pay it.

 

i walk in, so im not paying anything for a flight. Thailand used to be cheap so i went there every couple of months. It is now not cheap and all the little bits added on certainly make other places more attractive.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Sujo

[Lacessit]

43 minutes ago, Kennycrossfit said:

You're forgetting the pensioners living on 30 baht pad Thai. 

Haven't got that far, although I do enjoy my 50 baht sai ua.

[473geo]

2 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Who pays that cost for a flight.

 

i walk in, so im not paying anything for a flight. Thailand used to be cheap so i went there every couple of months. It is now not cheap and all the little bits added on certainly make other places more attractive.

Could be Thailand has lost a little appeal due to your frequent visits, perhaps you are ready for a change, would certainly appear so if 300 baht is going to make anybody having a rethink about visiting,

[sqwakvfr]

I think even Japan has a departure tax for either inbound or departing international air passengers.  I believe due to the global pandemic caused recession many countries will have to find ways to increase revenue.  At this point equivalent amounts of $10 to $30 USD per arriving/departing passenger does not seem unreasonable to me.  

 

International Tourism somehow and someway has to restart sooner than later.  The financial cost to restart tourism(getting the aircraft, airports and hotels ready) will be very expensive.  Part of it will come from the individual passenger and guest.  About the only thing that will be cheap is Oil.  

[Isaan sailor]

If the Baht keeps rising—this won’t matter. Tourists will go elsewhere.  And so will expats.

[treetops]

1 hour ago, drbeach said:

Really bad timing to be considering this...but they're not alone.

 

Laos has implemented a tourist tax - 16000 Kip for incoming foreign passport holders and 8000 for foreign border pass holders. Strangely, they're not yet collecting the tax when entering from Thailand but reportedly are doing so for entries from Vietnam and arrivals by air.

International flights to Laos were suspended last month.  Have they re-started?

[Boomer6969]

1 hour ago, 473geo said:

It's 300 baht guys, is that really a make break amount on a holiday in Thailand? Most people will spend much more in the airport prior to departure!!

A couple of beers, there is a risk of withdrawal.

[Sujo]

42 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Could be Thailand has lost a little appeal due to your frequent visits, perhaps you are ready for a change, would certainly appear so if 300 baht is going to make anybody having a rethink about visiting,

It certainly wont help.

[talahtnut]

฿300 on its own is not a put-off, but

combined with all the hoops we jump

through, to get a visa with photos forms

and copies,

Mate, where do they put all those copies?

The place doesn't seem as welcoming as

it once was. They seem to prefer the Chinese.

Heaped together, I'm getting bored with it.

Next year I'm sailing on the Med, sod Thailand.

[Don Mega]

Not really seeing a downside to it to be honest.

[Ventenio]

there is a newspaper that has the same name as a big city in Thailand and a website if you want to read the article.  bank with the same name..

----------------

Nobody cares about 300 baht like we didn't care about 300 cases of Covid...it's the UNCERTAINTY..

 

What if:

 

restaurant covid tax

hotel covid tax

haircut covid tax

school covid tax

 

then less foreigners, then things change, then we aren't as happy as before, then we must leave because now we spend 100,000 on covid taxes and a new covid visa that is 20,000 and this and that...

 

everything is a TREND

 

i pay like 1500 baht to go into Laos.  Soon we all might pay 1500 coming back.....so now we must think what will be next...

 

oh, beer is 100 baht.  oh, new covid tax...now 200

 

well, 100 baht is nothing!!!!!   100 baht won't ruin a tourist..

 

oh yes it will

[thai006]

300 whatever i want to come lol

[drbeach]

21 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

Tax the 5% Thai Rich and Elites   they have 80%  of the money in Thailand anyway

 

Apparently it's 67%, but your point is valid. In America, the elite one percenters possess 52% of the entire nation's wealth.

[drbeach]

20 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

If the Baht keeps rising—this won’t matter. Tourists will go elsewhere.  And so will expats.

Yes and increasingly, that will be back home. Other ASEAN countries are too similar to Thailand and unpredictable in their own right. They're also becoming more autocratic and anti-foreigner. Vietnam has said it will end tourist visas longer than 1 month even before corona, to begin July 1 or whenever the borders re-open (which I suspect will probably be in July).

 

Cambodia has introduced an even more draconian version of TM30, requiring monthly sign ins even if you don't travel anywhere. It's also required as part of your visa extension. Previously, in 2017, they ended the 12 month visa extension where you could just pay an agent a little under US$300 to stay another year without working or leaving the country. Now if you're in that category, you get just 6 months, then have to leave and come back. No idea if the authorities are tolerant of back-to-back 6 month drifters. Those seeking a 12-month extension must now be either retired (over 55), a student at a Cambodian school/university or working with a work permit.

 

China is basically not a place where foreigners can live anymore. Too many draconian restrictions unless you're considered a "foreign expert". Too much technology dependent on having a Chinese ID card, foreign passports not accepted. Chance of citizenship is basically nil.

 

I also suspect a lot of travelers will just prefer to stay home altogether for the time being, even once borders are re-opened. Asia is nice, but I think once you've seen it, you are glad to go back home and appreciate just how lucky we are back in the west. The social safety nets we take for granted are non-existent here.

[drbeach]

17 hours ago, Ventenio said:

there is a newspaper that has the same name as a big city in Thailand and a website if you want to read the article.  bank with the same name..

----------------

Nobody cares about 300 baht like we didn't care about 300 cases of Covid...it's the UNCERTAINTY..

 

What if:

 

restaurant covid tax

hotel covid tax

haircut covid tax

school covid tax

 

then less foreigners, then things change, then we aren't as happy as before, then we must leave because now we spend 100,000 on covid taxes and a new covid visa that is 20,000 and this and that...

 

everything is a TREND

 

i pay like 1500 baht to go into Laos.  Soon we all might pay 1500 coming back.....so now we must think what will be next...

 

oh, beer is 100 baht.  oh, new covid tax...now 200

 

well, 100 baht is nothing!!!!!   100 baht won't ruin a tourist..

 

oh yes it will

Yes and Laos also has a 16000 Kip tourist tax, which you pay when entering from Vietnam and at airports. Not yet collected at Thai-Lao checkpoints, but probably will be soon. The signs were already up last August at Tha Khaek (Friendship Bridge III). Was expecting to fork over the charges, but wasn't asked. Instead, I was charged the usual 50,000 Kip for my car documents and another 10000 Kip to stamp my passport (overtime charge).

[Don Mega]

17 hours ago, Ventenio said:

there is a newspaper that has the same name as a big city in Thailand and a website if you want to read the article.  bank with the same name..

----------------

Nobody cares about 300 baht like we didn't care about 300 cases of Covid...it's the UNCERTAINTY..

 

What if:

 

restaurant covid tax

hotel covid tax

haircut covid tax

school covid tax

 

then less foreigners, then things change, then we aren't as happy as before, then we must leave because now we spend 100,000 on covid taxes and a new covid visa that is 20,000 and this and that...

 

everything is a TREND

 

i pay like 1500 baht to go into Laos.  Soon we all might pay 1500 coming back.....so now we must think what will be next...

 

oh, beer is 100 baht.  oh, new covid tax...now 200

 

well, 100 baht is nothing!!!!!   100 baht won't ruin a tourist..

 

oh yes it will

Teh fug, 100b for a beer........... Since when ?

[zyphodb]

But...

      TIT how much of the money collected would go anywhere else than into corrupt officials pockets???

[tomazbodner]

On 5/12/2020 at 3:03 PM, KhaoYai said:

There already is a tax. It was previously 500 baht and payable on departure. A few years back it was incorportated into air ticket prices. Now they want more? - great idea for attracting tourists........not!

It went from 500 baht (collected at departure) up to ...700? and then they rather hid it into the ticket price so people would not know. When I came in the 90's, there were always some backpackers trying to borrow money at the airport after being refused to board for having no money to pay tax. So this would just raise that, I guess but charge at arrival instead of departure.

 

So taxed on the way in and on the way out... And then the taxi rip offs immediately after arrival and last thing before departure... Heaven!