Thai government 40% tourist discount

[Keith5588]

I live in Khon kaen with my Thai girlfriend. We are going to have a 2 to 3 week holiday in Phuket. As of now I have only booked the air Asia flight Khon Kaen to Phuket Airport on the 9 Sept.

 

I intend to hire a motorbike at Phuket Airport then travel down the West side of the island and then up the East side, staying a night or two at places. I haven't booked any hotels or the flight back yet, will do that a day or two before needed.

 

My girlfriend just tonight has registered with the Thai government 40%  tourist discount.

 

I am confused, basically I really do not know how to take advantage of the 40% discount, anyone know if it is worth looking into?

 

Hotels at the moment are relatively cheap. I asked my gf to look for hotels in Phuket that have the government 40% discount ....... she came back with Rawai Palm Beach Resort is 1,199 to 1990 baht per night. She could not find the exact cost tht we would pay.

 

I had a look on Agoda and see that  Rawai Palm Beach Resort has been reduced from 14,000 per night to 770 baht per night. I know nobody would have ever paid 14,000 baht but that is what it says, crazy!

 

So I can book it for 770 baht plus the approximate 18% for service and tax so about 900 baht!

 

Does anyone know more details of the Thai government 40%  discount and if it is worth spending time to use it?

 

Thanks 

Keith

[mr mr]

so lets see.

 

take 40% off double the price minus thai economics = jello.

 

hope that helps. 

Edited August 23, 2020 by mr mr

[Saraburi121]

We have found the hotel prices to be more expensive even after the 40% discount factored in.  We don’t even check anymore, just book direct, Agoda or through loyalty program. Another downside is you have to book 3 days in advance. 

[Antonymous]

Makes perfect sense.

 

So that'll be a 50/50 split: 900 baht to the hotel and 900 to the Govt office working feverishly to promote the scheme.

 

????

 

[Puchaiyank]

Are you sure immigration is not running this discount program?

[Keith5588]

I think @Saraburi121  is right. I sent a message to booking.com and the relevant part of the reply is

"Unfortunately we would not have the 40% off. For that special you may have to book through the site provided by the Thai government."

 

Seems that booking.com has nothing to do with the 40% off scheme.

I have just looked at Agoda and they have a whole question & Answer on the government 40% off called TTogether.

 

I don't want to spend too much time on this but I am now curious how this works?

 

I know that the same hotel can be listed in Booking.com and Agoda and if that hotel lists with the government scheme then customers in the know would definitely book the hotel via Agoda.

The Thai government would be giving a huge advantage to Agoda and not Booking.com.

That would 100% not be allowed in the UK ........... something is not right!

[Saraburi121]

If you go to the TT web https://search-merchant.เราเที่ยวด้วยกัน.com/shop/70a0b1aa0313b5ae0886339888eb441a   hotel can be selected, click on Agoda link once and will direct to hotel info, click Agoda link on hotel page and it will redirect to Agoda site asking for login. (Above link from the hotel info page)  Thai citizens will need to create an account for the TT program in Agoda to be eligible.  You may come out ahead if food voucher is used but not a great selection of restaurants in some places.  Base prices listed are a lot more expensive than regular Agoda prices in the areas we searched.  We called a motel direct who had registered for the program and were told you can’t book direct and only Agoda 3 days in advance.  May call another hotel and get a different answer. Wife finally tired of the time spent and said “no more” lol!  

Edited August 24, 2020 by Saraburi121

[Katipo]

The 40% scheme is not available to foreigners though Agoda (maybe in general?). While I was offered the chance to sign up, when I attempted to do so it would not accept my passport number. You need to have a Thai ID.

[Saraburi121]

1 hour ago, Katipo said:

 

The 40% scheme is not available to foreigners though Agoda (maybe in general?). While I was offered the chance to sign up, when I attempted to do so it would not accept my passport number. You need to have a Thai ID.

 

Correct for Thai citizens only. 

[paahlman]

17 hours ago, mr mr said:

so lets see.

 

take 40% off double the price minus thai economics = jello.

 

hope that helps. 

This is true. However.. 900 baht or so is an extremely good value for rawai palm beach.. I know the place...

[sandyf]

I have just arrived in Ao Nang for a few days with my wife under the scheme. It is certainly worth looking at but unfortunately you have already dipped out on the flight discount, you had to register for the scheme first.

The hotel must be booked and paid for through the app and the app must be presented at check in to verify the occupancy and then you get a voucher for 600 baht a night that can be used in any registered business, will see how that pans out later.

Be careful when booking, normally only 2 options, basic room or room with breakfast, if you make a mistake it cannot be altered, as my wife has just found out. The registered person can have I think up to 4 guests and 2 rooms.

We paid 2011 baht for 3 nights with breakfast in the Bluesotel at Ao Nang, If I remember right the DusitD2 across the road was 950 baht /night.

Good luck.

[murraynz]

Be careful when booking hotels through Agoda and booking.com.

Just last week i went to stay in hotel,soi 4 Nana,that i had booked through booking.com,several weeks ago...

On arrival,during heavy rain,i find that the hotel has been closed several months. Booking.com then proceeded to try and charge my credit card,despite booking confirmation saying that i would pay hotel,direct,on arrival..

Agoda advertises at hugely discounted prices(suepect),the adds various fees to the advertised price.

Its much better to find a good deal,negotiated directly with the hotel.

At nana, i got a hotel for less than 50% of my booked hotel..i had stayed there before...very satisfactory..

[murraynz]

Ive had far worse experience with Expedia...be aware....and catious.

[DFPhuket]

When you find a hotel on Agoda or other sites, get all the way to the end and see the total when they add their fees. Then email or call the hotel directly and ask about their best rate. Hotels often have quite a number of special rates not listed on travel sites and it's to their advantage to get direct customers directly rather than paying commissions. Even with five star hotels, in the past month, twice I've received a better rate by contacting the hotel directly. 

[GrigoryP]

As far as I have heard from people who used it, it is a discount for domestic Thai national tourists using their Thai ID number and OTP. Not all hotels participate but seems like you get 30% or 40% on top of the already discounted price on sites like Agoda. Maybe its only if you book directly on hotels website? But anyway no use to expats it seems. 

[RocketDog]

I never bothered to try. I knew intuitively that it would be a paper chase ending with an equal or higher price than just going in person and booking a room when you get there. 

This thread confirms it apparently. 

[sandyf]

22 hours ago, Keith5588 said:

I think @Saraburi121  is right. I sent a message to booking.com and the relevant part of the reply is

"Unfortunately we would not have the 40% off. For that special you may have to book through the site provided by the Thai government."

 

Seems that booking.com has nothing to do with the 40% off scheme.

I have just looked at Agoda and they have a whole question & Answer on the government 40% off called TTogether.

 

I don't want to spend too much time on this but I am now curious how this works?

 

I know that the same hotel can be listed in Booking.com and Agoda and if that hotel lists with the government scheme then customers in the know would definitely book the hotel via Agoda.

The Thai government would be giving a huge advantage to Agoda and not Booking.com.

That would 100% not be allowed in the UK ........... something is not right!

Update to what I posted previously. The vouchers are credited to the app at 5pm after check in and then at the same time each day. A bit surprised when it appeared as 900 baht, turns out the government have increased the amount for mid week bookings.

The vouchers cannot be used to pay in full, you have to pay 60% of any bill and the other 40% is taken from your voucher account. Last night when we came to pay the bill it turned into a tutorial for all the restaurant staff, they had all done a bit of a training but we were the first customers to actually use it.

Very quiet here with many businesses shut, of those that are open we only saw one that was in the government scheme, a tour agent, and we could use the voucher to pay 40% of a boat trip, may look at that tomorrow.

Here in the hotel there is no restriction on what can be paid for, they confirmed that drinks by the pool would be ok. With Chang at 100 baht, would make it 60 baht, not bad for a poolside bar.

[sandyf]

14 hours ago, GrigoryP said:

Maybe its only if you book directly on hotels website? But anyway no use to expats it seems. 

It is open to Thai residents and their guests. A Thai resident must register and all bookings are made and paid for through the government app. All bills making use of the voucher are paid through the app. The flight discounts are claimed after checkout.

This expat is enjoying the benefit.

[Jeffr2]

We went to a hotel yesterday that was on all the major booking sites and it has been closed for at least a month. 

 

We've found that it's best to visit the hotel in person. Many are doing upgrades so only a few rooms are available. Many more have said they will close at the end of this month. 

 

We've gotten some great deals negotiating in person. 

[zzzzz]

Phuket is dead and west coast beaches are nearly empty. Do NOT book in advance.

Many places on booking.com/agoda will take your money but are closed.  75%+ of hotels in Patong, Karon, Kata are closed, I have seen hotels for 400 baht and 4 star resorts for under 1,000 Baht!!!

 

Just arrive and head out,

 

FYI:  I live here not writing about what i heard from someone  who heard it from......

Edited August 25, 2020 by zzzzz

[Peterw42]

15 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

Phuket is dead and west coast beaches are nearly empty. Do NOT book in advance.

Many places on booking.com/agoda will take your money but are closed.  75%+ of hotels in Patong, Karon, Kata are closed, I have seen hotels for 400 baht and 4 star resorts for under 1,000 Baht!!!

 

Just arrive and head out,

 

FYI:  I live here not writing about what i heard from someone  who heard it from......

For the 40% discount scheme you have no choice other than book in advance, via the Government App.

[petermik]

5 hours ago, sandyf said:

It is open to Thai residents and their guests. A Thai resident must register and all bookings are made and paid for through the government app. All bills making use of the voucher are paid through the app. The flight discounts are claimed after checkout.

This expat is enjoying the benefit.

sandyf 

Just returned yesterday from a 3 day stay at the BlueSotel Smart we are frequent visitors to Ao Nang having a property nearby... the restaurant we use is near the Jungle Kitchen (tourist trap lol) and the way the owner worked it with my TGF we ended up paying nothing for our meals and in fact change was credited back into her account if less than the 600 baht...and BTW a large Chang there was Just 90 BAHT.

Just booked the 4* Seaseeker Hotel midweek next month 2415 BAHT 3 nights incl. bfast to take advantage of the 900 BAHT vouchers ????

 

 

[sandyf]

5 hours ago, petermik said:

sandyf 

Just returned yesterday from a 3 day stay at the BlueSotel Smart we are frequent visitors to Ao Nang having a property nearby... the restaurant we use is near the Jungle Kitchen (tourist trap lol) and the way the owner worked it with my TGF we ended up paying nothing for our meals and in fact change was credited back into her account if less than the 600 baht...and BTW a large Chang there was Just 90 BAHT.

Just booked the 4* Seaseeker Hotel midweek next month 2415 BAHT 3 nights incl. bfast to take advantage of the 900 BAHT vouchers ????

 

 

Our flight back to BKK got cancelled by Thai so we had to stay another day and booked into the Bluesotel Smart for that night. My wife's friend is coming to join us so we will have 4500 baht on the voucher arrangement. Had a terrific lunch today at a restaurant over near the Tiger Cave temple and should get the 1600 baht discount refunded on the flight, what's not to like about the scheme.

The pizza place almost opposite the swordfish monument does large Chang at 90 baht and quite a good view from the roof terrace.

[rumak]

On 8/24/2020 at 8:40 AM, Keith5588 said:

 

I don't want to spend too much time on this but I am now curious how this works?

I think one would be wise to remember the famous old saying :

 

"if it sounds too good to be true.......... it probably is "        

[Keith5588]

Thanks for the information @sandyf  

My gf registered and obtained a code for the Agoda App.

I downloaded and installed Agoda App in my phone, entered the code and could see all the discounted prices. After some investigation the lower prices do look to be genuine.  I decided for us to stay at Maikhao Palm Beach Resort the first night and from now on for my gf to go ahead and book.

After she installed Agoda App to her phone and successfully logged into the TTogether the prices she saw were not discounted.

I first reset both phones, same result. I totally uninstalled Agoda App from my phone then my gf saw the discounted prices. Just a heads up if anyone does the same.

 

We have now booked and paid for one night at Maikhao Palm Beach Resort through the TTogether scheme, cost was 795 baht, it’s normally a lot more, for instance booking.com has it at  1,270 baht.

 

You are right that it is too late for the flight but I booked with Air Asia a direct flight Khon Kaen to Phuket cost 1,590 baht each and if my memory is correct that was not on the government discount scheme, only more expensive flights were on the scheme. I will look again for the flight back that I haven’t booked yet.

 

So at the moment I feel that the discount scheme is good, especially taking into account the vouchers that we should also receive.

Thanks for the information on that Sandyf.

 

Thanks for the information zzzzzz, after booking I can and will message the hotels. If it still turns out to be a scam in that they are actually closed then we have a scooter and so can easily find somewhere else. I assume that our contract would be with Agoda and so Agoda would have to refund my money if a hotel is actually closed.

 

The cost per night at the hotels are so low at the moment I may book a few luxury places that I would not normally stay at.

 

I believe that we can only book 5 hotel nights through the discount scheme but I played tennis tonight and a friend said that she thought she heard on the news that it is changing to 10 hotel nights will be allowed?

Cheers

Keith

 

[Trujillo]

Just a general heads-up: never use online booking sites for hotels here; just use the sites to see the facilities and prices and then look up the hotel's homepage and call them. Nearly all of them will give your the same price as online or CHEAPER, and you will NOT have to use your credit card as collateral. 

This has worked every time I have done it, in contrast to the bait and switch tactics of the the booking sites. 

As usual, DIY if possible for your best results. 

[trucking]

In the old days, before the internet, the old people had this now obsolete gadget called the telephone. It enabled you to speak to real human beings and get answers from employees actually in situ. Really amazing stuff. They also had this paper stuff called cash. It was universally recognised, required no confirmation and was exceedingly useful.

 

Sigh, how primitive those long forgotten savages were.

[Orton Rd]

On 8/23/2020 at 9:54 PM, Saraburi121 said:

We have found the hotel prices to be more expensive even after the 40% discount factored in.  We don’t even check anymore, just book direct, Agoda or through loyalty program. Another downside is you have to book 3 days in advance. 

some hotels are priced higher than on booking.com, some not. Our 5 star Chatrium Hotel was 1800 on the web not inc tax, but with the 40% and offer by the hotel it was only 1080 baht a night inc breakfast. Phoned another yesterday as still have one night left to use, that was only 100 baht cheaper than on the web. 40% off food and drink can save a few thousand, you even get a maximum of 900 baht discount fri-sun. You even get 40% off booze.

[Keith5588]

Under the TTogether scheme I have seen more than one descent hotel for 400 baht per night including breakfast.

 

I value the several comments that recommend telephoning the hotels direct, I will definitely do that in the future but for now with this discount scheme and vouchers I don’t think I can be bothered to telephone.

 

Also the comments about the hotel may be closed. My thoughts are that this can happen but I think more through laziness / forgetting / can’t be bothered. Concerning the hotels under the TTogether scheme a representative for the hotel would have to give their ID and recently positively register while knowing that the hotel is closed which I think is unlikely.

 

I know the scheme is only for Thai Citizens while travelling outside of their home province.

 

Anyone know if my gf would be eligible for the forthcoming flight back to Khon Kaen where we live?

 

Anyone know if the maximum number of hotel nights is still 5?

 

Assuming we receive 600 baht in vouchers on 9 Sept (I realise it may be 900)  does this mean that if we take a trip with a registered company and the trip costs 1,500 baht, then we actually pay 900baht?  Or would we be limited to buying a trip up to a maximum of 600 baht and only pay 360 baht?

And can we take this trip at any time in the 2 weeks we are in Phuket?

 

I’m now going to plan a bit more, I wasn’t going to pre book hotels but now I think I will, at least for the first 5 nights.

 

Cheers

Keith

[Saraburi121]

10 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

some hotels are priced higher than on booking.com, some not. Our 5 star Chatrium Hotel was 1800 on the web not inc tax, but with the 40% and offer by the hotel it was only 1080 baht a night inc breakfast. Phoned another yesterday as still have one night left to use, that was only 100 baht cheaper than on the web. 40% off food and drink can save a few thousand, you even get a maximum of 900 baht discount fri-sun. You even get 40% off booze.

Started looking at a Pattaya weekday trip and there seems to be some good deals, wife is phoning some motels now. Before we were looking at smaller towns for example Korat.   Your comment on the 40% off booze prompted us to take another look.  Haven't been to Pattaya in ages so will be interesting to see how it looks now plus its getting a little boring here on the farm.