Damaging Thailand's reputation abroad

[anchadian]

Referring to report from the B.P.

 

Link not provided.

 

Richard Barrow:

No surprises here. Airlines have come back to tell the Minister of Tourism that they won’t add an additional fee for certain groups of passengers. The mishandling of this unpopular tourist tax has done much to damage #Thailand’s reputation abroad. And it hasn’t even started.

[bob smith]

they are masters at shooting themselves in both feet.

 

whats that saying again? '...give em enough rope..' ????

[Pink Mist]

That then asks the question of " will immigration have a separate booth to pay the 300 baht upon arrival for those whose airlines did not collect it and transfer it?"

[biervoormij]

I don't think the tourist tax is damaging Thailand's reputation abroad. I would be surprised if most tourist have even heard about this new tax. If they are coming to Thailand and don't care about the dual pricing, the Taxi mafia and the air quality an additional 300 baht added to an already expensive airline ticket is just a drop in the bucket.

[Hummin]

5 hours ago, bogs smith said:

they are masters at shooting themselves in both feet.

 

whats that saying again? '...give em enough rope..' ????

The only problem I hear by those who frequently come to Thailand for holidays, is the cost of flight Tickets that have tripled, not the tourist tax. No one have even mentioned it.

 

 

[marin]

3 minutes ago, Hummin said:

The only problem I hear by those who frequently come to Thailand for holidays, is the cost of flight Tickets that have tripled,

For sure they have increased, but not by double let alone triple.  Could you provide a link or an example?

[CMBob]

17 minutes ago, biervoormij said:

I don't think the tourist tax is damaging Thailand's reputation abroad. I would be surprised if most tourist have even heard about this new tax. If they are coming to Thailand and don't care about the dual pricing, the Taxi mafia and the air quality an additional 300 baht added to an already expensive airline ticket is just a drop in the bucket.

Agree except I believe a fair number of international tourists are becoming aware of the air quality. 

But, as concerns the so-called "tourist tax", most tourists wouldn't even be aware of it (given the airlines, when the tax is implemented, won't disclose the nature of the extra 300 baht charge).

[Hummin]

17 minutes ago, marin said:

For sure they have increased, but not by double let alone triple.  Could you provide a link or an example?

As living in the nordic countries, we have lost several direct flights, and now unless you going more than 20 hours one way, it is double and triple prices compare to before covid. before I could easily get tickets  below 20k roundtrip, now 50k and more. 

[itsari]

23 minutes ago, biervoormij said:

I don't think the tourist tax is damaging Thailand's reputation abroad. I would be surprised if most tourist have even heard about this new tax. If they are coming to Thailand and don't care about the dual pricing, the Taxi mafia and the air quality an additional 300 baht added to an already expensive airline ticket is just a drop in the bucket.

The straw that broke the camels back is worth mentioning 

[Hummin]

6 minutes ago, itsari said:

The straw that broke the camels back is worth mentioning 

Well, for us who constantly get reminded in asia related foras, it might be an issue, but as mentionend before, normal tourist do not even think about it. It is not an issue because taxes implemented in tickets is normal world wide at many poplular destinations. 

 

The most damaging for Thailands reputation is the smoke and pollution. 

[itsari]

2 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Well, for us who constantly get reminded in asia related foras, it might be an issue, but as mentionend before, normal tourist do not even think about it. It is not an issue because taxes implemented in tickets is normal world wide at many poplular destinations. 

 

The most damaging for Thailands reputation is the smoke and pollution. 

Right now air quality is damaging to tourism i agree 

[proton]

No details yet on health insurance cover or what what else the 300 baht might be spent on. Maybe they will make something up before it starts?

[StayinThailand2much]

6 hours ago, anchadian said:

The mishandling of this unpopular tourist tax has done much to damage #Thailand’s reputation abroad. And it hasn’t even started.

Thailand shooting itself into the foot again... With so many bullet holes in the foot now, what, if any, is left of it?

[Hummin]

7 minutes ago, proton said:

No details yet on health insurance cover or what what else the 300 baht might be spent on. Maybe they will make something up before it starts?

there will be no healt insurance cover, it is a tax to cover the losses hospitals have from giving medical aid to tourists who do not pay. For you and me, or anyone else, there will not be any cover. 

[StayinThailand2much]

20 minutes ago, Hummin said:

As living in the nordic countries, we have lost several direct flights, and now unless you going more than 20 hours one way, it is double and triple prices compare to before covid. before I could easily get tickets  below 20k roundtrip, now 50k and more. 

Thailand always wanted the wealthy tourists. Who can afford such a trip now falls right into this category...

[proton]

Just now, Hummin said:

there will be no healt insurance cover, it is a tax to cover the losses hospitals have from giving medical aid to tourists who do not pay. For you and me, or anyone else, there will not be any cover. 

Scam then, the money they will raise will be far greater than the claimed loses from tourists who do not pay

[Hummin]

1 minute ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Thailand always wanted the wealthy tourists. Who can afford such a trip now falls right into this category...

Less tourists is a good thing if you ask me. I miss covid, and Thais seems to see a bright future in more investments in Thailand giving more work for skilled people as well. 

[Hummin]

3 minutes ago, proton said:

Scam then, the money they will raise will be far greater than the claimed loses from tourists who do not pay

Where is the scam, read the intention of the plan.

[Will B Good]

Your average two week tourist couldn't careless about this tax, air quality or military coups......once they set their sights on a holiday here nothing will stop them.

[Freddy42OZ]

33 minutes ago, itsari said:

The straw that broke the camels back is worth mentioning 

I think it's the burning of the straw that is the real problem.

[n00dle]

54 minutes ago, Hummin said:

the cost of flight Tickets that have tripled,

im flying my kid in for a month this summer and it will cost nearly 2500 bucks. 

pre covid I flew her, her mother, and sister in for that money

[Hummin]

6 minutes ago, n00dle said:

im flying my kid in for a month this summer and it will cost nearly 2500 bucks. 

pre covid I flew her, her mother, and sister in for that money

in fact just got new glasses, and talked to the optic, and they cancelled the family trip to Thailand this year because what they useally spent on tickets during school holidays, was 3K usd, and now they had to pay almost 10k usd for this summer. 

[it is what it is]

1 hour ago, biervoormij said:

I don't think the tourist tax is damaging Thailand's reputation abroad. I would be surprised if most tourist have even heard about this new tax. If they are coming to Thailand and don't care about the dual pricing, the Taxi mafia and the air quality an additional 300 baht added to an already expensive airline ticket is just a drop in the bucket.

 

agree, airline ticket prices contain all sorts of taxes and landing fees, have these ever stopped me visiting a country? absolutely not.

 

has anyone here not visited a country because of its taxation policy?

[richard_smith237]

This was an opportunity for Thailand to shine, instead they clumsily wonder through the abyssal planes of an intellectual desert as far as International PR is concerned...  and to top it off they just don’t care. 

 

Thailand brings in: US$ 60.5 Billion in Tourist Income. 

Thailand brings in: US$ 3.73 Billion Baht in Medical Tourism. 

 

The ‘crux’ of the issues spawning Thailands discussions to introduce a Tourism Tax is based on debt left behind by insured tourist.

 

The cost burden of uninsured tourists on the Thai Medical industry is: US$ 8.7 Million Baht (in unpaid bills). 

i.e.

The cost burden of tourists is 0.014% of income from Tourism.

The cost burden of tourists is 0.23% of income from Medical Tourism.

 

 

This was Thailands time to do something more intelligent and positively spin this - i.e. We will pay for emergency Medical Care of tourists (i.e. Visa Exempt Entries). 

 

 

Those on Visas must either prove medical insurance or minimum funds to cover emergency costs (i.e. 800,000 baht in the retirement visa). 

 

Of course, there is no ‘one size fits all’ policy, but charging every tourist an additional 300 baht is clumsy - I doubt many genuine tourists will care too much about an extra $9... but they will care about the additional queues it generates upon arrival, and while Thailand is already undergoing criticism for Immigration Delays at the airport potentially adding to these delays is extremely clumsy and short sighted. 

 

Thailand needs to be vying for repeat tourists and doing everything it can to continue to attract tourists. Reading the news I often get the impression that those in positions of decision making power show a certain contempt for the fact that Thailand is reliant on tourism. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

57 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Your average two week tourist couldn't careless about this tax, air quality or military coups......once they set their sights on a holiday here nothing will stop them.

Agreed... But a tourist arriving and facing a 1 hour queue to pay a tourist tax followed by another 1 hour queue for immigration is going to get fed up and question their desire for a return visit. 

 

Thailand needs to be courting tourism, not showing it contempt of tourists. 

[kingstonkid]

Does anyone think that 9 USD added to a cost is going to make a big difference compared to the fuel and other fees that are added by airlines?

[richard_smith237]

43 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

agree, airline ticket prices contain all sorts of taxes and landing fees, have these ever stopped me visiting a country? absolutely not.

 

has anyone here not visited a country because of its taxation policy?

This fee can’t added to tickets unless its included across the board on tickets for all arrivals i.e. its added to the ‘landing fee’ (tax) and then distributed. 

 

The issue as I see it is not the amount, but how it will be collected...

[richard_smith237]

Just now, kingstonkid said:

Does anyone think that 9 USD added to a cost is going to make a big difference compared to the fuel and other fees that are added by airlines?

None whatsoever IF handled correctly...     If it's simply added to tickets as a landing tax and distributed  separately then no one will notice. 

 

BUT... how else will this be handled ? will it be used to cover ‘insurance’ for tourists who find themselves injured in Thailand and in need of emergency medical care ??...  

 

OR... once in place will this subject go very quiet and we’ll see the same number of complaints from hospitals that tourists have ‘escaped’ without paying their medical fees ?

 

In a few years will be see how ‘Big Joke’ has discovered the extent of the graft as these additional funds were misappropriated and found their way into the accounts of senior politicians and authority figures ???

 

 

I may be too cynical, but it seems to me that policies such as these are so popular because anyone in a position of decision making power can see how they can benefit directly.

 

[Muhendis]

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

The issue as I see it is not the amount, but how it will be collected...

For me, it's more a question of what it pays for.

Wasn't there talk some while ago about paying for hospital bills?

 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, proton said:

Scam then, the money they will raise will be far greater than the claimed loses from tourists who do not pay

Indeed...  20 million tourists x 300 baht / US$ 9  = US$ 180 Million 

The cost burden of tourist to fail to pay their medical bills is US$ 8.7 Million 

 

Thats nearly 2,000% (yes two thousand %) of the cost burden of tourists unpaid medical bills...  Quite the earner - where will the money go ????