Airline boss pleads with government to delay the Thailand Tourism Fee (TTF) due later this year

[KhaoYai]

Although I'm not in agreement with introducing the tourism fee - this has got to be a joke right?

 

300 baht is nothing compared to the ridiculous prices the airlines are charging at the moment - that is definitely damaging Thailand's tourist industry.

[Formaleins]

I think it would be so much more fitting to charge potential tourists 1 million Baht entry fee, just to make sure they weed out the scum.

[ericthai]

11 hours ago, NE1 said:

The next step will be trying to charge as people leave. 

I think it was 50 baht the last time they did this.

you already pay an exit fee, it's included in the ticket price. You used to have to pay cash but I think around 2000 or so they changed it and added it to the ticket. This is another fee they want to add on top of the exit fee they already get!!!

[blackshadow]

12 hours ago, NE1 said:

The next step will be trying to charge as people leave. 

I think it was 50 baht the last time they did this.

it was 500 baht.....NOT 50......!!!

[NE1]

2 minutes ago, blackshadow said:

it was 500 baht.....NOT 50......!!!

No need to shout , it has already been pointed out on numerous occassions.

[blackshadow]

5 minutes ago, NE1 said:

No need to shout , it has already been pointed out on numerous occassions.

whose shouting.....go back to playing with your toys.....

[NE1]

9 minutes ago, blackshadow said:

whose shouting.....go back to playing with your toys.....

Excellent response......

[arithai12]

11 minutes ago, blackshadow said:

whose shouting.....go back to playing with your toys.....

Search for "netiquette uppercase" and you will see that using uppercase is usually understood as shouting. In your case it was just one word so ... more like emphasis perhaps.

[NE1]

3 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

more like emphasis perhaps.

Usually underlined looks better....

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by NE1

[Gknrd]

Land of scams, best to be avoided IMHO

[Skinny Boy]

Pockets to be filled, appetites to be sated ....surprised they don't want it in US$ as most banana republics do ! That really slows things up at the airports !

[bristolgeoff]

I was mean,t to go last jan all cancelled.Got my money back so ok but took time.The travel insurance was put on hold till later,but when I re booked to go this jan the insurance company said they will not insure me now.Something about hospital charges or the rip off in hospital bills.Got my money back in full so all ok just have to find travel insurance again.So the 300 baht tax for hospital benefit for farangs seems to be all smoke and mirrors it seems,lets see when it comes in and the end result

[BonMot]

provide extra resources for tourism infrastructure and to introduce automatic health and medical insurance for holidaymakers in the case of an emergency in the kingdom.

 

I'd not read that the medical insurance was actually a thing? It was simply the best excuse that was offered but nothing legal. My understanding was that it was perhaps insurance for HOSPITALS if a farang would not or could not pay the bill. Of course, the details of the coverage could be published easily enough lol. Additionally, I expect this to be another racist double charge (I rarely make such a charge) in that I'm sure that those on non tourist visas will be charged. I think it even fine to charge teachers, most have no permanent stake here - but to charge O visa holders is ridiculous.

 

Will be interesting how this gets implemented. I can't see every travel website building a special clickbox for - are you a Thai national? Who checks the fee and how? If I recall your passport, details usually go in after you view full price including taxes. Maybe it's back to buying a 300b paper ticket.

 

Finally, the main reason for this fine never sat well with me and always extremely suspect... To help with tourist infrastructure. It's purely a slush fund and appears entirely as such which is really why it's taken years to shove through. Nevertheless, incorrigible Thailand pushes on. A family of four will now pay b1200 about a days wage for millions of Thais. Could you imagine paying a days wages in your country to enter... Just because???

[Paradise Pete]

18 hours ago, NE1 said:

The next step will be trying to charge as people leave. 

I think it was 50 baht the last time they did this.

I've paid a departure tax in other countries. A lot more than 50 baht.

[Sydebolle]

19 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Simple really

 

Enter passport on booking site

300 bht extra farang passport

Simple computer code

 

Not complex at all

 

Ceo whining cause he wants to advertise the lowest fares

Sounds simple but I wonder if the check-in staff at JFK, Heathrow or Leonardo Da Vinci/Fiumicino airport is aware, that my ticket has to show the 300 Baht surcharge while my Thai spouse does not. The nationality is not an element of ticketing for a good reason. Dual nationals enter/leave Thailand as Thai citizen while enter and leave i.e. France as French citizen. 

If they want to go ahead with this fee, then it applies to all or none, anything else cannot be handled by the aviation industry ..... for the time being. 

Looking forward to endless queues in arrival halls of Thailand's international airports with exchange booths as well as staff feeding the 300 Baht into automated ticketing machines and then hand over the receipt for this tourism tax to the (sometimes) dead tired tourist from faraway land ..... those airport tax machines, still standing around somewhere with liquid-painted 25-digits inventory numbers spring to mind. Or did they float away when Don Meuaiong International Airport was flooded some +/- 10 years ago? ???? 

[Sparktrader]

1 hour ago, Sydebolle said:

Sounds simple but I wonder if the check-in staff at JFK, Heathrow or Leonardo Da Vinci/Fiumicino airport is aware, that my ticket has to show the 300 Baht surcharge while my Thai spouse does not. The nationality is not an element of ticketing for a good reason. Dual nationals enter/leave Thailand as Thai citizen while enter and leave i.e. France as French citizen. 

If they want to go ahead with this fee, then it applies to all or none, anything else cannot be handled by the aviation industry ..... for the time being. 

Looking forward to endless queues in arrival halls of Thailand's international airports with exchange booths as well as staff feeding the 300 Baht into automated ticketing machines and then hand over the receipt for this tourism tax to the (sometimes) dead tired tourist from faraway land ..... those airport tax machines, still standing around somewhere with liquid-painted 25-digits inventory numbers spring to mind. Or did they float away when Don Meuaiong International Airport was flooded some +/- 10 years ago? ???? 

Nothing to do with check in staff. They dont know what airport taxes are being paid. All in the computer program. Only the programmers and accountant know that.

 

Simple addition to computer program.

 

 

[jonclark]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:21 AM, micmichd said:

If it is used as an insurance for medical bills then I'm okay with it. Why should Thailand take the cost? 

A good host takes care of a paying guest.  Especially if the paying guest contributes a huge amount to the hosts GDP. 

[Lucky Bones]

3 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Nothing to do with check in staff. They dont know what airport taxes are being paid. All in the computer program. Only the programmers and accountant know that.

 

Simple addition to computer program.

 

 

Anyone seen the accountant lately?

[scorpio1945]

How does 300 baht make any difference to someone who can afford an air ticket to Thailand?

[Sydebolle]

21 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Nothing to do with check in staff. They dont know what airport taxes are being paid. All in the computer program. Only the programmers and accountant know that.

 

Simple addition to computer program.

 

 

Lets wait and see.

Somewhere somebody has to separate the Thais from non-Thais. If I put "Thailand" as nationality I'm off the hook? You can enter anything you want, the physical check of ticket/boarding pass against ID is done at the airport only. My details in airline databases contain a long-expired passport number and as a dual national I use whichever passport makes my trip more convenient. 

Irrespective of all this it shows the shortsighted vision of the people in charge of promoting tourism; it is not the 300 Baht, it is the thought behind this "tax". But, as said, lets wait and see; I am not affected by it but I do not really believe it will jumpstart tourism again to former glory ...... but I might be wrong here as well ???? 

[micmichd]

19 hours ago, jonclark said:

A good host takes care of a paying guest.  Especially if the paying guest contributes a huge amount to the hosts GDP. 

Then the paying guest can pay a little more. It's only 300 THB. 

[SunsetT]

Logic does not work. Maybe grovelling will.