Thailand’s new entry fee – boon or bust for tourism?

[Fairynuff]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

If 10 bucks is really a concern then they are not the quailty tourists Thailand is seeking.

I thought the fee was 300 baht

[Chelseafan]

3 hours ago, DaLa said:

I'm not so sure I want to label any tax by a government as a 'bargain' , however compared to the rip off airport charges in the UK I can live with 300 baht. My latest booking to the UK cost 73,595 baht of which  34,795 was taxes.

 

 

I'm a left-turner so usually pay around 180,000+, though not for much longer, prices are going through the roof!

 

[ronster]

Boon ?? BOOM ! ????

[Fairynuff]

1 hour ago, MadMac said:

Well, compared to the incalculable risk by just taking a Wuhan test one may say it is negligible. Tourists will not come as long as there is forced detention. Period.

Wuhan test. You’ll be telling us the money goes to Bill Gates next

[vandeventer]

4 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

Charged a fee to arrive and a bigger one to depart! This is a money grab plain and simple.
Tourists are an easy target to increase government revenues instead of actually relying on people paying their taxes for example

Next, they will charge something in the middle when they put a app on your phone and know where you are. Poor backpackers!!!

[Fairynuff]

57 minutes ago, DKA1961 said:

Not a big deal really.... tourists who can't afford the 300 baht fee are probably not the type of tourists that you want to attract anyhow ????

I can afford the 400 baht national park fee but wouldn’t dream of paying it while the people I’m going with would be charged 40 baht

[daveAustin]

Bemused at people happy to give money away for free. Also, the guy quoting UK passenger duty/landing charges/fees. Thailand also has them (EVERY country does, buried in ticket price), so you need to post that as well. This is an additional tax/freebie for the rotten gov. Again, as long as you’re happy. Me, I’d rather put 300 baht in the drain. Same same but different. 

[crazykopite]

The clowns are in for a shock tourists will go to more welcoming destinations where they don’t get ripped off 

[crazykopite]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Most of the international flights I take cost under 1,500bht (many at 1,000bht).

Adding another 300bht to the ticket is a 20-30% rise.

Not that it matters any more, easy cheap international travel is gone for good IMHO.

Where can you get an international flight for a 1,000 baht you have never flown a an internal flight like Bangkok to Samui each way is at least 2,000 bhart

[RichardL]

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

It won't matter because COVID will never subside.

No hordes will be coming for the next 3-5 years.

Mass International tourism is gone, maybe forever.

 COVID will never go away, but the risk from covid is already subsiding. The mortality rate has dropped from about 12 in 1000 to about 2. 

[Smokey and the Bandit]

29 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

Wuhan test. You’ll be telling us the money goes to Bill Gates next

Well it has been called the Wuhan flu/virus, or China virus! So it makes sense?

[hotchilli]

It's just another hidden fee... I just hope put-aside and invested so it can be used as the benefit intended and not swallowed up by certain people who see it as a slush fund.

[Dialemco]

4 hours ago, DaLa said:

I'm not so sure I want to label any tax by a government as a 'bargain' , however compared to the rip off airport charges in the UK I can live with 300 baht. My latest booking to the UK cost 73,595 baht of which  34,795 was taxes.

 

 

You are lucky to be able to pay return business class fare  Most tourists travel economy class naturally a mere Bht 300 makes no difference in these circumstances.

[charmonman]

I don’t think they’ll be collecting much money until they remove the covid insurance, the sandbox, ASQ, PCR tests, and all the other expensive obstacles put in the way in the wake of covid-19. 300 baht is virtually nothing compared to all the rest.

[Bigz]

'The government says that in exchange for the Bt300 fee, foreigners will get medical insurance coverage of up to Bt500,000 and Bt1 million in case of death or serious injury.' 

I'm fine with that.

[milesinnz]

It is the picture it paints.. it seem everything to do with the Thai government is anti-tourist/anti-foreigner and this is just one more thing.. by itself, it is nothing, but in the overall picture of the way the Thai government behaves towards foreigners, it just makes me not want to come... I was going to pay out for a bigger motorcycle, kept in the name of a Thai friend of mine.. but I am certainly delaying that idea...

Edited January 18, 2022 by milesinnz

[Harveyboy]

The government claims to have solid reasons for the move Greed...and more Greed be careful there are a lot better and cheaper countries !!!

[spidermike007]

This will not make the tiniest bit of difference. Why? Because they have already sabotaged the tourism industry beyond recognition, and it is not coming back. If they are fortunate, there might be 5 million tourists per year, five or ten years from now. Thailand is being forgotten, they completely forgot to fix all the issues plaguing the industry long before covid, no sacrifices are being made, and the incessant cowardice is not helping anything, or anyone. Stop the panic. Let the people get back to work. 

[Harveyboy]

2 minutes ago, Bigz said:

'The government says that in exchange for the Bt300 fee, foreigners will get medical insurance coverage of up to Bt500,000 and Bt1 million in case of death or serious injury.' 

I'm fine with that.

do you believe these clown's.. Oh did you also hear Elvis is working in a chip shop in Brighton  

[Harveyboy]

4 minutes ago, Bigz said:

'The government says that in exchange for the Bt300 fee, foreigners will get medical insurance coverage of up to Bt500,000 and Bt1 million in case of death or serious injury.' 

I'm fine with that.

oh my giddy aunt

[sandyf]

5 hours ago, internationalism said:

Never heard about entry tax to any european countries. Besides, the EU travel can't be taxed by each country separately.

Because there is no EU entry tax. In the EU countries that charge a tourist tax it is usually collected by hotels on a nightly basis. In some countries it is more per night than Thailand is proposing.

Strikes me many on this forum would prefer the more common system of a nightly charge.

 

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/tourism/business-portal/financing-your-business/tourism-related-taxes-across-eu_en#specifictaxes

[Harveyboy]

5 minutes ago, milesinnz said:

It is the picture it paints.. it seem everything to do with the Thai government is anti-tourist/anti-foreigner and this is just one more thing.. by itself, it is nothing, but in the overall picture of the way the Thai government behaves towards foreigners, it just makes me not want to come... I was going to pay out for a bigger motorcycle, kept in the name of a Thai friend of mine.. but I am certainly delaying that idea...

its going down the Pan..and quickly

[Harveyboy]

13 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

It's just another hidden fee... I just hope put-aside and invested so it can be used as the benefit intended and not swallowed up by certain people who see it as a slush fund.

keep dreaming on that one mate

[cheapcanuck]

2 hours ago, Capella said:

It's only 300 Baht, for heaven's sake. 

You think it will stop at 300B? Within 2 years it will double. Two years after that it will double again. Once the tax starts it will go up and up. That what taxes do. Taxes never goes down, just up.

[Misterwhisper]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

While Thailand has never charged an entry fee before, many other nations have. Bhutan, for instance, charges most foreigners US$65, while Japan, Malaysia, the US, and many European nations each impose the fee in different ways.

Yes, yes. But... some very significant details have been left out in that story... as always when the Thai government is trying to justify yet another foreigner fleecing scheme that it intends to implement:

 

Most of the countries mentioned charge their respective entry fees to short-term visitors (i.e. tourists!) EXCLUSIVELY. Long-term stayers are EXCLUDED. In other words: they make a clear distinction between visitor and expat. Unlike Thailand. 

 

in the case of Bhutan, the $65 fee is included in the compulsory tourism package every short-term visitor is obliged to book.

 

And as far as the U.S. are concerned: I have never (ever!) paid an "entry" fee to be admitted into the country. There is a fee for the so-called ESTA certificate, but I consider that part of the visa cost and each certificate remains valid for a full 2 years anyway.

 

 

[Saanim]

36 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

I can afford the 400 baht national park fee but wouldn’t dream of paying it while the people I’m going with would be charged 40 baht

Would you be happy the people you are going with will be charged also 400 Baht - since you will be the one who will pay for them, won't you?

 

I am always amused by these complaints. The local people people pay tax (or maybe not) in their own country, their govt make it easy for them.

 

Whilst the farangs who live here mostly pay no tax here  - and probably neither in their own country throughout their whole life. So, the 12 bucks more is not so big deal for them.  Do they get admission to a National Park in their country for free?

 

 

 

[Chongalulu]

300 baht per tourist ? What are the government going to do with the extra 3000 baht pouring into their coffers this year…? 

[sawadee1947]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The government claims to have solid reasons for the move

Is there any further explanation, or just the usual Money grabbing or even hostility to foreigners?

Or just stupidity?????

[CLW]

It will be scrapped by the master general right before it's introduction and all meetings, committees and working groups have been a waste of time and money.

Plus giving Thailand a bad name in international travel press and scaring potential tourists away....

Those in charge never learn and stop with those knee-jerk and flip-flop decisions...

[Saanim]

7 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Because there is no EU entry tax. In the EU countries that charge a tourist tax it is usually collected by hotels on a nightly basis. In some countries it is more per night than Thailand is proposing.

Strikes me many on this forum would prefer the more common system of a nightly charge.

 

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/tourism/business-portal/financing-your-business/tourism-related-taxes-across-eu_en#specifictaxes

If you are e.g. in Germany or Switzerland in a spa city they charge so called Kurtax, procedure practised for ages. Wondering whether the visitors in their forums complain about that much higher amount similarly as they complain in Thailand (about 10 bucks).