Okay given for Bt300 foreign tourist entry fee

By The Nation

 

Tourism and Sports Minister Phipat Ratchakitprakarn (Photo credit: Thai Government)

 

The National Tourism Policy Committee has approved the Tourism and Sports Ministry’s proposal to collect a Bt300 fee from every tourist entering the country, said minister Phipat Ratchakitprakarn on Thursday.

 

The online fee will become effective once the measure is published in the Royal Gazette.

 

The money collected will go to the tourism promotion fund.

 

Phipat said the fee would help fund management and development of Thai tourism, as well as insurance for foreign tourists during their stay.

 

The next step is for state agencies to draw up details of the fee collection.

 

About 10 million foreign tourists are expected to visit Thailand this year.

 

Meanwhile the committee also viewed the status of the Special Tourist Visa (STV) scheme, which came into effect in September last year.

 

As of January 11, a total of 1,114 tourists had entered Thailand on STVs, with another 123 set to arrive this month.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30401251

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2021-01-15

 

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The constant repetition of insulting state sponsored schemes to rid tourists of money just becomes tiresome.

 

Thailand is seriously hurting due to the absence of international tourist yet complete imbeciles are still trying to figure out ways to scheme more money from the very people it wants to attract. 

 

So often I’m astonished by the outrageously flawed mindset of those in positions who come up with this stuff. 

 

When I read news such as this I draw the opinion that Thailand doesn’t deserve tourists, but sadly it is the general population who would be hurt, while those in positions of power dream up more schemes from which to graft and skim funds.

13 minutes ago, webfact said:

The money collected will go to the tourism promotion fund.

 

Should read:

The money collected will go into the pockets of the greedy ministers !

Another sad state of affairs.

I'm far from a rich man but 300 baht is not going to have an effect on me, however there will be a cumulative benefit for Thailand

 

I don't begrudge 300 baht in these hard times

Yeah hardly no ones coming so let’s screw a bit more out of the few that are. 

They really haven’t got a clue what to do next. 

 

Ps. 10 million my ar.se

They’re thinking 10 million arrivals... x 300 baht each...

 

If those in positions at the top can skim 10% they’ll have 300 million baht to divide between themselves !!!

 

 

Oh yea. That's a great way of how to promote tourism! Another bs idea and they are just shooting themselves in the foot. Who's gonna be declared as a tourist?? Everyone with a foreign passport, no matter what visa? And how is the fee gonna be collected? Another desk at the airport to create more queues (assuming tourists will ever come back)? Very welcoming indeed... 

 

By the way, wasn't there an article a while ago about foreign residents pay same same entry price for National Parks? Well I'm still being quadruple charged. TIT. Thanks for nothing. 

10 million tourists this year????????????????????

How about 500 baht in entry and free health care for all tourists - I think we'd all be happy with that

This is a rather backwards manoeuvre, I remember paying 500 baht at the airport just to be let out of the country. As long as the fee is less than a bar fine, most people won't be too unhappy. If it goes off maybe they should employ bar girls to collect it and escort tourists to an office for some V.I.P treatment for a few mins also. 

This is pathetic on every level. They could at least do something useful with the money like provide a basic emergency health insurance policy but no, not in Thailand ????

 

No doubt there will be special counters (toll booths) at every port of entry where you can stand in line like a moron for an hour or two to pay the fee.

2 minutes ago, Deserted said:

This is a rather backwards manoeuvre, I remember paying 500 baht at the airport just to be let out of the country. As long as the fee is less than a bar fine, most people won't be too unhappy. If it goes off maybe they should employ bar girls to collect it and escort tourists to an office for some V.I.P treatment for a few mins also. 

 

You still pay that exit tax but they make the airline collect it, in fact they increased it well beyond the old 500 Baht level, can't remember what it is now though.

 

At least you don't need to stand in line to pay it any more.

Yeah, that used to be annoying. Pay to get in pay to get out. For a country that has so many tourists it seems a bit underhanded, especially when the investment in the tourist sector isn't particularly impressive or at least not reflexive of the amount it generates for the country.

15 minutes ago, 473geo said:

I'm far from a rich man but 300 baht is not going to have an effect on me, however there will be a cumulative benefit for Thailand

 

I don't begrudge 300 baht in these hard times

It will start off at 300B, then once tourism starts to increase they will increase the fee, and I can see that a 1,000B  would be charged,, they still believe that tourists are queing up to visit Thailand, how wrong are they. 

Absolutely money mad,  TIT

4 minutes ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

It will start off at 300B, then once tourism starts to increase they will increase the fee, and I can see that a 1,000B  would be charged,, they still believe that tourists are queing up to visit Thailand, how wrong are they. 

You do realise the same people you think will baulk at 300 baht are paying around that for one pre flight beer

In what world do they think they will get 10 Mill tourist in 2021? LOL
 

While 300 baht would mean little to me and most others, the idea is irritating. I remember the days when you had to pay a fee at the airport on departure in cash. Always left me a little annoyed, not exactly the best last memory from a trip. And the idea of getting soaked every time i wanted to do a short trip outside thailand would just be a needle in my side. If they want to charge a processing fee for visa free entries that is stupid but understandable. I am alread paying a visa fee and jumping through hoops. If i was not already strongly connected to my life in thailand i would be considering other destinations, as i am sure those with less strong bonds already are. I like thailand but if it wasn't for my thai friends who are like family, i would be off somewhere else. 

QUOTE:

Phipat said the fee would help fund management and development of Thai tourism, as well as insurance for foreign tourists during their stay.

 

Great news!

We will all be covered by the 30 baht scheme and no need for covid insurance.

 

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

They’re thinking 10 million arrivals... x 300 baht each...

 

If those in positions at the top can skim 10% they’ll have 300 million baht to divide between themselves !!!

 

 

Only 10%?? Give them some credit. I am pretty sure they have mastered a way to make about 25-30% magically disappear after so many year of the same trade. ????

It should be 300 baht PER DAY including insurance and fund various improvements and environmental mediation.

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Phipat said the fee would help fund management and development of Thai tourism, as well as insurance for foreign tourists during their stay.

 

I've got an idea: Don't charge foreign tourists B300 on entry, B500 on exit(by proxy, in flight charges), don't charge fees for tourist visas, then publicly announce these changes.

 

There you go, tourism sorted. People will want to come, instead of feeling like money-machines for the greedy.

27 minutes ago, epicking said:

In what world do they think they will get 10 Mill tourist in 2021? LOL

You have to understand their thinking here.

 

They know for sure that Thailand is the number 1 / best country in the whole world (same as most of the other SEA countries) and granting anyone entry to this glorious land mass is a privilege that we filthy foreigners are lucky to have bestowed on us.

 

They are taught this as children.

A folk's fable about the eggs of the (currently no existent) golden  goose pops to minds... as if it couldn't wait until things will be normal again...

5 minutes ago, ukrules said:

You have to understand their thinking here.

 

They know for sure that Thailand is the number 1 / best country in the whole world (same as most of the other SEA countries) and granting anyone entry to this glorious land mass is a privilege that we filthy foreigners are lucky to have bestowed on us.

 

They are taught this as children.

 

To be fair, it is pretty wonderful here.

I spent 6 months back in the yUK in 2019 and by the end of it I was suicidal.

BUT, this is no excuse to try to make as much money out of every foreign person who enters.

Thais can be proud of their country, of their ways, of their food & their landscapes, but not so of their leaders, in this department, they have a long way to go.

Look at the fine print on your airline ticket some day.  If they added 300 baht to the price of a ticket, the vast majority of the taxes collected would still be going to the USA, UK, etc.

 

I don't worry about the $10.  It's how they're going to collect it.  They should make it part of the ticket price, and not a fee that has to be paid separately.  Just for convenience sake.

And they should have just kept it quiet.  Nobody would have even noticed a 1-2% increase in the price of an average R/T ticket to N. America, Europe, etc.

 

Suppose this moronic idea goes ahead (its been ‘given the ok’ after all)...

 

The 500b departure tax was an extreme pain in the backside, especially for tourists who’d budgeted and spent their last 500b on the taxi journey to the airport only to find out there were now stuck.

 

I believe it was due to an understanding at the time of the massive inconvenience to departing passengers that this tax was applied directly to the tickets. 

 

 

Fast forward 15 years or so... How do the ‘decision makers’ think this is going to impact tourists ?

 

Tourists arriving with no Baht until they access an ATM. 

 

Imagine all the 1000B notes withdrawn from the AMT’s - Sorry no change at the ’Tourist Tax’ arrivals desk !! 

 

The ONLY viable option for this fundamentally greedy idea is to add the 300b onto the tickets - but isn’t that what the airport tax effectively is anyway, a tourist tax (or at the very least a traveller tax) ?

 

 

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

The ONLY viable option for this fundamentally greedy idea is to add the 300b onto the tickets - but isn’t that what the airport tax effectively is anyway, a tourist tax (or at the very least a traveller tax) ?

 

Underling: 'Boss, takings are down, what should we do?'

Boss: 'put the prices up'

As well as insurance for foreign tourist.......... as long as I get my insurance policy on arrival it's OK to me.

Odd that, same price as a vaccine.