Thailand to Implement 300-Baht Fee for Foreign Arrivals

[jacko45k]

4 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

Like National Insurance contributions in the UK. Same same. 

Not really......

[Speedhump]

58 minutes ago, Inala said:

Yeah, very funny reality TV show starring mostly 2 week millionaires and their girl problems. Surprising just how many sex starved emasculated Aussie guys get off the plane in BKK on a Friday night, meet a beautiful young brown skinned girl in a Soi Cowboy gogo on Saturday night, in at the Embassy on Monday morning to arrange their marriage cos they're in love ????.  But, he's back a couple months later, alone of course, trying to get the Au Embassy's help in locating this girl who conned him into buying a 5m baht house up in Issan and then buggered off with her brother ???? and the house title leaving him broke.... Of course this can happen to the best of us, when you come from the west and have been shouted at and had your nuts squeezed for decades by some wrinkly hag who's ar$e is wider than you are tall, well of course you do lose those nuts over the first girl you meet. Especially when she's 47kg, smooth as silk and 30 years younger than you!  

Do you have a name for that show? I'd love to try to dig it up?

 

Edit: I found it - The Embassy on Channel 9 ????

[jonclark]

14 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

Like National Insurance contributions in the UK. Same same. 

No..foreigners arriving in the UK on holiday don't pay national insurance...they are however able to access the NHS for free in the event that have an accident or get sick during their holiday.

[FinChin67]

If the datalink does not work? Will be similar mayhem as Thailand pass for sure. One additional hurdle to travel to Thailand. No thanks. 

[jonclark]

The detail that is missing is what is covered by the insurance and how do holidaymakers access it in the event it is required. 

[Bangkok Barry]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Chote said the fund will be used to develop tourist sites, provide 30-day insurance coverage, and assist tourists in emergency situations such as sickness, accidents, or other incidents while in Thailand.

Details, please.

[mtls2005]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Chote said the fund will be used to ...., provide 30-day insurance coverage

I'll believe this when I see it.

 

I think this is an outright prevarication, a shameful one. Only used to justify the increase.

 

Note that there is never any real detail on how this slush fund will be managed. Always vague references to tourists running up medical bills, and coral reefs.

 

 

Who will oversee it? Who will handle the accounting? Will it be made public? Which ministry (ies) "manage this fund: Transport, or Tourism/Sport, or other.

 

 

The local Mercedes dealer salespeople are salivating. No problem hitting next year's quota.

 

Also, home safe sales will rise.

 

 

 

[Speedhump]

19 minutes ago, jonclark said:

No..foreigners arriving in the UK on holiday don't pay national insurance...they are however able to access the NHS for free in the event that have an accident or get sick during their holiday.

They both also have different names, pedant, why didn't you point that out too.... ????

 

They are both taxes which are not/will not be used for the purposes for which the are purportedly collected. So yes. 

[mtls2005]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The TTF system is expected to be integrated with airline websites, displaying a fee collection screen for holders of foreign passports. Airlines must assist in screening fee-paying tourists before issuing tickets, and the final passenger manifest must be submitted to the data link 15 minutes after each flight departure.

 

It sounds like they are attempting to force airlines, and their distribution systems (GDS: Amadeus, SABRE, et al.), to add a new line item for this extortion scheme.

 

Today, the 700 baht PSC is collected by the GDS'es at ticketing and is denoted as "TS" on your receipt. I think this goes to AoT, and they "pay" for their concession, but maybe they grease other palms too?

 

Now they want to added a new line item for the 300 baht.

 

I suspect they're doing this in order to route the 300 baht to a different account, where it can be pilfered by government permanent secretaries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jaiyen]

Wonderful Thailand ! Now they think that tourists are rushing to get to Thailand for the monsoon season, they are now telling airlines that they have to collect a measly 300 baht and do all the paperwork to see that it goes into the wrong hands in Thailand. Are there even a decent number of planes flying yet ?

 

[Speedhump]

33 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Not really......

They are both effectively taxes, and NI is not used for the purpose for which it's collected. 

[sandyf]

12 hours ago, island coconut said:

Exactly! Anyone who bitches about a lousy 300 Baht entry fee can just stay home <deleted>. MANY countries require some form of fee from foreign visitors, in most cases a lot more than 300 Baht.

Quite, about 25% of the world's countries have a foreign visitors fee and it is growing every year, tourism has in effect become an environmental disease.

It is a sad reflection on this forum that every time there is a proposal to make  improvements, the toys come out of the pram faster than a Putin missile strike.

[crazykopite]

To provide benefits to foreigners what an absolute joke ????????????????????

[mtls2005]

13 hours ago, island coconut said:

Exactly! Anyone who bitches about a lousy 300 Baht entry fee can just stay home

Silly comment.

 

For the record I'm bitching about HOW the collected money will be used, and when the full accounting of it will be published. 

 

I'm not whinging about an extra 300 baht, well I am if I'm paying for someone's third luxury automobile.

 

Will your lordship allow me to stay?

 

 

[swm59nj]

I’m guessing this fee will be breaking the bank for many foreign tourists 

[Molly Malone]

12 hours ago, poohy said:

So are we free to assume as this fee is used for insurance the later will not be required....thought not

 

Whilst i have No problem in paying a fee, but after living here for 20 odd years you know it will never be used for any such purpose

If my 300 went to the shop owners that lost their business's during extended lockdowns and street vendors etc, I'd be happy, this insurance hoax excuse is ting tong! OMICRON = the flipping flu, move 

along Gov greedy farrang swindlers. Concentrate on getting the white devils into Thailand for your 

tourist economy boost! 

Ps is the re entry visa thing still available at the airport office, before one leaves for a short trip?

[sandyf]

On 4/30/2022 at 4:36 AM, Puccini said:

You are referring to the Passenger Service Charge for departing passengers, currently THB 700, which is added on the airline ticket.

 

Below is the list of taxes and fees added on a return ticket from Milan Malpensa to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi in 2019:

 

Totals: Italy EUR 27.92, Thailand EUR 23.93

Going into Heathrow there is an additional charge unique to the UK called Air Passenger Duty making it the most expensive airport in the world.

 

The Civil Aviation Authority has approved an interim rise from £22 to £30.19 a passenger. But the move has failed to appease either airlines – which have condemned the increase – or the airport, which was calling for even higher charges ranging from £32 to £43 to help recoup losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Heathrow’s demands had already caused contention among the airline industry. Willie Walsh, a former chief executive of British Airway’s owner, IAG, who now leads the global airline body Iata, accused the airport of “gouging” its customers.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/16/passengers-face-fare-rises-after-37-hike-in-heathrow-landing-fees#:~:text=Flying into Heathrow is likely,to £30.19 a passenger.

[brianthainess]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

have signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand,

But I thought nobody understood Thainess. 

[mtls2005]

18 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Which ministry (ies) "manage this fund: Transport, or Tourism/Sport, or other.

 

Answering my own question: Ministry of Tourism and Sport, based on other articles I've scanned this AM.

 

 

A former permanent secretary for transport Supoj Saplom, had his home burgled while he was at his daughter's wedding. Thieves were aghast at the volume of cash, and they left most of it as they only brought one pick-up truck.

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/news-robber-in-supoj-case-says-heist-was-meticulously-planned/

 

He served 10 months in prison.

 

I think he's worming his way back into government service, recently serving on a MoJ panel.

 

He probably shared his wealth.

 

 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

13 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

I've long felt that there should be a "corkage" charge for those foreigners who arrive in Thailand with their own wives in tow.

Indeed. Thailand prefers you come single, to avail yourself of their many lovely offerings, an understated part of their economy.

 

New air cons and refrigerators don't just magically move from Thai Watsadu to homes throughout Issan by themselves.

[rwill]

13 hours ago, Letseng said:

When I get to Austria next week I get charged 3€/day tourist tax. I get nothing in return, no insurance or assistance in an emergency. I need insurance to be able to get a Schengen visa.

Why is TH not entitled to do the same?

They already get 500 baht from each traveller.  You used to have to pay upon departure.  But now it is just added to the airfare price.

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

Nowhere on the booking were passport/nationality details asked or even possible to be entered.   

Every airline ticket I have bought for years on end has required passport details, it is known as API(Advance Passenger Information).

My wife's ticket always states she cannot self check in and must go to the counter.

[jacko45k]

26 minutes ago, Speedhump said:

They are both effectively taxes, and NI is not used for the purpose for which it's collected. 

There are differences, NHI can be paid voluntarily, but of course the money ends up in the one big pot. 

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

It will just go into the general pot

Or just into the General's pot.

[LivingNThailand]

2 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

No mention of permanent residents who are usually overlooked and classified as tourists

As a permanent resident that hasn't left the country in over two years, I keep wondering about the so called mandatory insurance requirement for tourists.  I haven't seen a single article that mentions this.  As a foreigner permanent resident do I have to buy insurance after a vacation overseas?  And if so, for what time period?  There is a lot of us out there.

[welshissan]

3 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

This should only apply to true foreigners aka farang countries.

 

This should not apply to other Asian countries.

Perhaps you don't understand that any country outside Thailand is a foreign country !! Maybe you can take some time to think

[herfiehandbag]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Chote said the fund will be used to develop tourist sites, provide 30-day insurance coverage, and assist tourists in emergency situations such as sickness, accidents, or other incidents while in Thailand.

Any job, ministerial or civil service which deals with this fund will become significantly more attractive, and therefore significantly more expensive. A whole new income stream develops...

[mtls2005]

Currently everyone, including thai citizens, pay the PSC (100 baht domestic, 700 baht international).

 

I'm not sure the airlines will be thrilled, or even able to carve out exceptions to a separate 300 baht fee. So I assume everyone will have to pay this fee. Maybe they can rebate the 300 baht to thais somehow? King Power voucher?

 

It might be easier to simply add a small hotel tax, 10 - 30 baht per night? Hotels collect VAT already so just lump this extra into their VAT pot.

 

 

Collecting extra money is probably best done in country, just "enhance: the two-tier pricing schemes? Although I understand that thailand would like to get someone else to do the heavy lifting.

 

Maybe reinstate tip jars?

 

Or simply tip each tourist upside down, vigorously shake them and collect the droppings?

 

 

 

[sandyf]

54 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

It sounds like they are attempting to force airlines, and their distribution systems (GDS: Amadeus, SABRE, et al.), to add a new line item for this extortion scheme.

If you really want to see extortion, how about this from a BA ticket a couple of years ago, 770 baht to Thailand and the rest to the UK. The total ticket price was 24,775 baht.

[sanuk711]

2 hours ago, Time Traveller said:

Show me where the entry to Thailand is "a lousy 300 baht" ?

The cheapest visa is $90,

"The cheapest visa is $90,"---the cheapest Visa is free

 

Thailand has always had a free 30 day Visa on arrival --for just about any person from a western country. If you are posting about a special visa that you have to apply to the Embassy for --not the 30 day on arrival visa. Most Embassies do charge. I live near the Lao border-- it would cost me 1,500 baht (enter fee) to walk across.  It can cost nearly 2,000 baht to get into Cambo--unless your in a hurry--then it can cost up 4,500... 

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

What is the cost to obtain a Cambodia e-Visa? The visa cost for Cambodia e-Visa is USD 36.00 . Additionally, there is a service fee of USD 20.00 for standard processing. For rush processing and super rush processing the service fee is USD 50.00 and USD 80.00 USD, respectively.

 

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