Tourism fee fund to be fast-tracked after payouts to families in the Siam Paragon mass shooting

[webfact]

Minister of Tourism and Sports Sudawan Wang-Suphakitkosol, whose ministry this week again put forward the implementation of the longstanding plan to introduce a tourism levy or fee with a new method to pay at airports and entry points using kiosks, a website and smartphone apps. The news comes as the ministry and the Siam Paragon Shopping Centre confirmed compensation payments to the families of the two murdered women in last Tuesday’s mass shooting and those injured.

New foreign tourism levy to be paid on arrival at kiosks at Immigration Bureau points of entry, including at airports after landing. The fee will also be delivered via a website or smartphone app, said the Ministry of Tourism and Sports in the latest update on a proposal that has been up in the air for decades but has yet to be implemented by successive Thai governments.

The Tourism Ministry and the Siam Paragon Shopping Centre came forward this week to compensate the families of the two women murdered during Tuesday’s mass shooting in Bangkok after the government admitted that the Tourism Assistance Fund to compensate tourists involved in emergencies in Thailand had recently been cancelled by officials in an efficiency drive.

 

The Tourism Minister, Ms Sudawan Wang-Suphakitkosol, promised to fast-track the introduction of the long-awaited foreign tourism entry fee, which the ministry now proposes will be paid by travellers on arrival at entry points to the kingdom, providing emergency medical health insurance cover and other benefits for 30 days from the point of entry.

 

by Carla Boonkong & Pranee O' Connor

 

Full story: Thai Examiner.com 2023-10-09

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

[bendejo]

So it makes the world news that LOS has experienced a mass shooting.  Such a thing is bad for tourism.  How to solve this problem?  Introduce another tourist fee!  Or did this news tidbit really originate in The Onion ?

 

[chris26be]

So when a Thai citizen shoots someone, the tourists have to pay the costs?

[TheFishman1]

I guess this new MoneyGram or tax will only apply to foreigners. Amazing, Thailand, TIT.

[stoner]

maybe just fast track it and come up with some bs reason as to why. telling the world. hey you are going to pay for our societies issues.

 

probably not going to sit well with some.

[Mike Lister]

20 minutes ago, TheFishman1 said:

I guess this new MoneyGram or tax will only apply to foreigners. Amazing, Thailand, TIT.

Yes, it's a Foreign Tourist Levy, nota general levy for anyone who travels!

 

New taxes on tourists have become common in many countries:

 

Barcelona taxes foreigners staying in tourist accommodation

Portugal charges foreign tourists 1 Euro per night

Austria adds 3.02% to foreign tourists bills

Belgium add about 7 Euro's per night to room bills

Bhutan charges foreigners a whopping USD 250 per day!

Bulgaria adds 1.50 Euro per night to bills

Caribbean islands, Croatia, Czech republic, 

France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia

etc etc etc, all charge foreign tourists more.

 

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/09/11/tourist-taxes-all-of-the-countries-you-will-have-to-pay-to-enter-in-2022

 

 

[khunjeff]

42 minutes ago, chris26be said:

So when a Thai citizen shoots someone, the tourists have to pay the costs?

Right. The Thai son of wealthy Thai parents goes into a Thai shopping mall owned by Thai billionaires and kills some foreigners. To show how much it cares, the Thai government pays compensation to the victims using money coming only from foreign tourists.

 

Wait, what? ????

[khunjeff]

3 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Yes, it's a Foreign Tourist Levy, nota general levy for anyone who travels!

 

New taxes on tourists have become common in many countries:

 

Barcelona taxes foreigners staying in tourist accommodation

Portugal charges foreign tourists 1 Euro per night

Austria adds 3.02% to foreign tourists bills

Belgium add about 7 Euro's per night to room bills

Bhutan charges foreigners a whopping USD 250 per day!

Bulgaria adds 1.50 Euro per night to bills

Caribbean islands, Croatia, Czech republic, 

France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia

etc etc etc, all charge foreign tourists more.

 

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/09/11/tourist-taxes-all-of-the-countries-you-will-have-to-pay-to-enter-in-2022

 

 

A few of those, like in Bhutan, are genuinely fees or taxes on foreign tourists. Most of what the media labels as "tourism taxes", though, are simply hotel taxes that are implemented with the assumption that very few locals will end up paying them.

[Colabamumbai]

Need to get back the money they paid to families of dead. Lets hush this up quick. 

[ChipButty]

That attitude has been around as long as I have been here "Farang will Pay" 

[Tom H]

incl. non O-visa travellers?

Just asking for AseanNow.

[findlay13]

Who could think this was a good idea ? Lets encourage more tourists after a shooting by making them pay a fee.????

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

after the government admitted that the Tourism Assistance Fund to compensate tourists involved in emergencies in Thailand had recently been cancelled by officials in an efficiency drive.

Come to Thailand, get shot and compensate yourself.

[hotchilli]

24 minutes ago, Colabamumbai said:

Need to get back the money they paid to families of dead. Lets hush this up quick. 

Nah, need to fill the pot that Prayut & Co obviously emptied.

[Jonathan Swift]

Just using it as an excuse, to do something that they knew was otherwise unjustifiable, but were itching for a way to get away with it. It's not really about compensating the families.

[sammieuk1]

What will come next is a horizontal departure tax before your coffin gets nailed down ???? 

[ChipButty]

Im more worried about who will control this big pot of money 

[Gknrd]

I think I will come in and retire there... I want to deposit 800K in the Thai bank, also I want to visit immigration every three months to let them know where I am. I also want to pay them extra so I can leave the country and come back in . I also want to go threw this process once a year so I can see them and just say hello, Pay them a few thousand extra.  Sounds like the nice thing to do...  Just a shout out to Thailand for making my retirement relaxing , simple and making me feel loved..

 

See ya soon... Thanks Thailand

 

[bendejo]

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

Yes, it's a Foreign Tourist Levy, nota general levy for anyone who travels!

 

New taxes on tourists have become common in many countries:

While living in Malaysia I decided to do a trip to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat, Cambodia) a few years back.  The visa on arrival, and the stuff I had to pay when leaving (can't recall the names, exit fee or airport tax etc) combined cost more than my round-trip Kuala Lumpur ticket. 

 

[Tarteso]

Asking for money again, like a Lady Bar and get a Free pulmonary emphysema in smog season.  ????

[ChipButty]

5 minutes ago, Tarteso said:

Asking for money again, like a Lady Bar ????

In lady bar you have a choice

[IAMHERE]

A Kiosk; yep that'll work. Be swift and easy and convenient.

[Parker2100]

I fail to see a connection between the two events.

 

I understand that tsome in yhe government(s) have wanted to impose this fee for a long time before but this event is a poor excuse to do so.

 

I am actually in favor of a fee to reimburse Thailand for medical costs incurred during normal tourism.  It may help relieve some of the occasional hostility expressed by some Immigration Officers who behave as if repeat tourism is an unwelcome burden on Thailand.

 

 

 

 

[Parker2100]

21 minutes ago, bendejo said:

While living in Malaysia I decided to do a trip to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat, Cambodia) a few years back.  The visa on arrival, and the stuff I had to pay when leaving (can't recall the names, exit fee or airport tax etc) combined cost more than my round-trip Kuala Lumpur ticket. 

 

I don't recall any exorbitant exit fees from Cambodia.

 

But I do remember the crazy Flat-Rate Hotel Tax in Malaysia that cost more than my room at the Hostel I was staying.

 

 

[In the jungle]

6 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

A Kiosk; yep that'll work. Be swift and easy and convenient.

Kiosk means cash.  They like cash.

[nobodysfriend]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

New foreign tourism levy to be paid on arrival at kiosks at Immigration Bureau points of entry ... a website and smartphone apps.

Good luck with collecting the fee from visitors who just do not want to pay ...

 

Or will the payment via app or website be controlled by immigration before entry ?

This would create a lot of confusion .

Why not just let the airlines collect it when boarding ?

 

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

 

[Nicholas Paul KNIGHT]

Although in principle I agree  with a Fee for the original reasons given. But to fast track it due to incompetence, lax enforcement and to state a reason because a 14 year old boy shot people in a Mall is unacceptable. 

[Matthew2027]

A 'High Ranking' BIB explained a few years back regarding a fatal road accident involving a Foreigner... It's the foreigners FAULT, as if they where NOT in Thailand the accident would not have happened.... So, therefore same Thai Logic applies for the 2 victims shot dead... Amazing Thailand...

[Parker2100]

9 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

Good luck with collecting the fee from visitors who just do not want to pay ...

 

Or will the payment via app or website be controlled by immigration before entry ?

This would create a lot of confusion .

Why not just let the airlines collect it when boarding ?

 

 

 

It would obviously be before you get past Immigration.

 

Btw, the original plan years ago, was just tack a 200 Baht fee to your airplane ticket.

 

 

[RichardColeman]

Thailand appears to be becoming an unwelcome country even more, I think time here is becoming limited now