Tourism Industry Backs Reinstatement of 300 Baht Tourist Fee

[webfact]

 

Thai tourism industry players are calling for the return of a 300 baht ($9) fee for incoming visitors. The funds raised are seen as critical to driving tourism development. The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) is set to discuss the matter with Sermsak Pongpanich, the incoming tourism minister.

 

TCT Vice President, Surawat Akaraworamat, emphasized a broad consensus among industry stakeholders on the matter. The Tourism Department currently faces a dearth of funds to adequately enforce 56 tourism-related standards, with only a 10 million baht ($300,000) budget earmarked annually.

 

Surawat reaffirmed the need for the fee, dismissing Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s suggestion to shelve it to spur tourist numbers. Wuthichai Luangamornlert, CEO of Siam Park City Group, echoed this sentiment.

 

“The $9 fee would not deter tourists," said Wuthichai, citing the dwindling tourism development budget as a key concern.

 

However, the president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, advised the government to adopt strategies that distinguish between tourists and other arrivals to Thailand. Sisdivachr also underscored the need for transparent guidelines on the usage of the tourism fund.

 

Additionally, Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation Plc, envisages further discussions with the new finance minister, Pichai Chunhavajira, on lowering fuel excise taxes – an appeal previously turned down. Rising maintenance costs and high jet fuel prices have initiated a 20% increase in airline costs.

 

-- 2024-05-02

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[dinsdale]

Here we go again. Same old tax with the same problem. How it's to be collected. This is something that was never properly thought through. Policy first, how to implement it an afterthought. Going from this article this problem is yet to be solved.

[smedly]

tourism sector struggling lets put prices up - Thai logic 101

 

When things were good reinvestment of prophets into improving infrastructure was the right thing to do instead of stuffing in your greedy pockets, now crying out for money from those who haven't even arrived in the country lol

 

By now Thailand should be a pristine tourist destination with high standards of locations and safety, 40 years of income what has improved.......nothing, in fact it is going backwards

[DPKANKAN]

2 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Here we go again. Same old tax with the same problem. How it's to be collected. This is something that was never properly thought through. Policy first, how to implement it an afterthought. Going from this article this problem is yet to be solved.

What I have said before is that all tourists without travel/health insurance should pay the 300 baht, on arrival, with it going into the health industry to cover the inordinate amount of hospital costs etc. fees that we see people needing regularly!!!!

[dinsdale]

5 minutes ago, DPKANKAN said:

What I have said before is that all tourists without travel/health insurance should pay the 300 baht, on arrival, with it going into the health industry to cover the inordinate amount of hospital costs etc. fees that we see people needing regularly!!!!

Say what you like but the question remains, HOW? This is why it hasn't been implemented. As for travel insurance how can this be checked? What level of travel insurance? Who collects the Bt300? It's not as straightforward as your post suggests.

[DPKANKAN]

3 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Say what you like but the question remains, HOW? This is why it hasn't been implemented.

Simple. Collection booths on arrival, pay and receipt before going through customs. Only if no travel insurance.

[dinsdale]

3 minutes ago, DPKANKAN said:

Simple. Collection booths on arrival, pay and receipt before going through customs. Only if no travel insurance.

They're trying to make waiting times getting through shorter and your idea would make it a whole lot longer.

[DPKANKAN]

Just now, dinsdale said:

They're trying to make wait times getting through shorter and your idea would make it a whole lot longer.

Only for the cheapskates with no travel insurance. Som Nam Naah as the Thai's would say.5555

[BritScot]

A money grab which will never see the benifit of tourism.  Like already said "Thailand regress not progress". The amount of money pumped into Thailand by America during the Vietnam war, money donated in the aftermath of disasters and of course tourism including expats and you still can't walk down a sidewalk and forget it if you are in a wheelchair! Thailand should have been another Japan or definatly another South Korea....

[dinsdale]

8 minutes ago, DPKANKAN said:

Only for the cheapskates with no travel insurance. Som Nam Naah as the Thai's would say.5555

Rediculous. Do you not remember why this didn't happen when it was first proposed? Who will check in the 'tax booths'? How many 'tax booths' will be needed. How about a line for full insurance, another for minimal insurance and another for no insurance? All will need to be checked. Remember the airlines will not do this. It's unworkable this is why it's not happening.

[Korat Kiwi]

If its that urgent,  it gets added to the airfare.  Then it's upto the airlines to forward the $9 back to Thailand. 

 

Handling fees will mean actual amount received by Thai authorities will be about $1.50

 

I was glad when Thailand got rid of that bastard departure tax. What a pain that was. 

[StayinThailand2much]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai tourism industry players are calling for the return of a 300 baht ($9) fee for incoming visitors.

 

That's good and fair. And I will remind myself to cut one of my expenses by 300 baht to compensate, every time I travel to Thailand. 😆 

[bkk6060]

300 b times 40 million tourists expected that's a lot of baht.

[dinsdale]

11 minutes ago, Korat Kiwi said:

If its that urgent,  it gets added to the airfare.  Then it's upto the airlines to forward the $9 back to Thailand. 

 

Handling fees will mean actual amount received by Thai authorities will be about $1.50

 

I was glad when Thailand got rid of that bastard departure tax. What a pain that was. 

One of the reasons it didn't happen before was because the airlines said no.

[brianthainess]

Broke and Busted Thailand, I thought all these millions of tourists were suppose to bring in much needed money for the economy.......

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai tourism industry players are calling for the return of a 300 baht ($9) fee for incoming visitors. The funds raised are seen as critical to driving tourism development. The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) is set to discuss the matter with Sermsak Pongpanich, the incoming tourism minister.

Just further gouging... call it what you like there is no need for it.

[Jimjim1]

52 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

As for travel insurance how can this be checked? What level of travel insurance?

Every time I arrive in Thailand and indeed any country I do so with a folder full of details regarding my travel insurance and a letter from my insurance company confirming that I have £10,000,000 of full cover, I have never yet been asked for it but it is available for any official to peruse, so the matter is easily checked.

[hotchilli]

24 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Broke and Busted Thailand, I thought all these millions of tourists were suppose to bring in much needed money for the economy.......

https://www.google.com/search?q=สัพรแห+ดนพ+ืำอำพ+ำืนีเ้&oq=สัพรแห+ดนพ+ืำอำพ+ำืนีเ้&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i10i160l3.6556j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:743df38c,vid:6jZVsr7q-tE,st:0

[pentagara]

23 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

One of the reasons it didn't happen before was because the airlines said no.

If collection by airlines, the only way is to add it to airport taxes and security fees that are part of the ticket. In this case, there is no differentiation if you're a tourist, permanent resident, work permit holder or a Thai citizen. Everyone with a  airplane ticket will have to pay it. It would be a tax on the ticket with no differentiation. Technically it would be like the carbon tax charged by some countries, airport fees and security fees charged at all airports and such. Unless Thailand thinks it can change global airfare ticketing procesures and IT systems. It cannot be linked to nationality and visa status.

 

Furthermore, it would not cover land crossings.

 

The idea of giving everyone entering Thailand health insurance by paying 300 THB at entry is also ridiculously dangerous, since then people would have the right to go to a Thai hospital for free, covered by Thailand within the insurance limits. There's no way you could cover the costs for that with 300 THB. You'd need health checks, exclusions such as no payment in case of preexisting conditions and more. In other words: Thailand would make a substantial loss. That's why no country does it.

 

 

[impulse]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

tourism sector struggling lets put prices up - Thai logic 101

 

 Looks to me like they're doing fine on the numbers.  Now, they need to upgrade the quality of the tourists they're attracting. 

 

If $9 is going to be a deal killer, perhaps that's the kind of tourist they'd rather not have.

 

[dinsdale]

14 minutes ago, Jimjim1 said:

Every time I arrive in Thailand and indeed any country I do so with a folder full of details regarding my travel insurance and a letter from my insurance company confirming that I have £10,000,000 of full cover, I have never yet been asked for it but it is available for any official to peruse, so the matter is easily checked.

Easily checked you say. Of course you would have to check each and every tourist coming in. How many per day would that be? How many problems will occur? What level of insurance is needed. You are fully insured would you need be pay the tax? Should people who have full comprehensive travel insurance need to pay? What about those with travel insurance but not to the level you can afford? Maybe it's not the case that "the matter is easily checked.".

[candide]

Once again, I wonder why the tourism industry is supporting initiatives which may hinder tourism. I know, it's 'Thai logic', but still strange.

[khunPer]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

However, the president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, advised the government to adopt strategies that distinguish between tourists and other arrivals to Thailand. Sisdivachr also underscored the need for transparent guidelines on the usage of the tourism fund.

Actually makes sense, if you separates tourists and other arrivals. In the beginning I was very sceptical about a tourist entry fee, but I've changing my view due to the general Worldwide problem with over-tourism. It seems like the right track to focus more on tourists that can and will pay, rather than massive budget tourism.

[sidneybear]

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

Say what you like but the question remains, HOW? This is why it hasn't been implemented. As for travel insurance how can this be checked? What level of travel insurance? Who collects the Bt300? It's not as straightforward as your post suggests.

Just add it to the price of the air ticket and collect it from the airline, like they did with departure tax years back. Nobody would even notice it then.

[sidneybear]

4 minutes ago, candide said:

Once again, I wonder why the tourism industry is supporting initiatives which may hinder tourism. I know, it's 'Thai logic', but still strange.

Tourists who find 300 Baht a hindrance aren't worth having anyway. 

[statman78]

1 hour ago, Korat Kiwi said:

If its that urgent,  it gets added to the airfare.  Then it's upto the airlines to forward the $9 back to Thailand. 

 

Handling fees will mean actual amount received by Thai authorities will be about $1.50

 

I was glad when Thailand got rid of that bastard departure tax. What a pain that was. 

The departure tax is still there.  It is now included in the price of the ticket.  You’ll see it if you look at the itemized receipt for an international ticket.

[dinsdale]

8 minutes ago, sidneybear said:

Just add it to the price of the air ticket and collect it from the airline, like they did with departure tax years back. Nobody would even notice it then.

As said before the airlines said NO last time. Do you think anything has changed? What about land border crossings? What about Thai nationals? What about people with work permits? What about people who have insurance already? I'm sure this list can be expanded. Are the airlines meant to sort this out? Simplistic, poorly thought out policies often have very complex implemenations. This is one of them and to say just add it to the ticket obviously is too simplistic. That's why it didn't happen before. 

[jts-khorat]

6 minutes ago, statman78 said:

The departure tax is still there.  It is now included in the price of the ticket.  You’ll see it if you look at the itemized receipt for an international ticket.

 

People's attention span is really short, that it is part of the ticket has all but been forgotten.

 

The weird thing is indeed, why they are not simply increasing the departure tax.

 

That indicates to me, that this is a different trough that needs filling for snouts to feed who get nothing from the first one. Is corruption not a nice thing?

[dinsdale]

23 minutes ago, sidneybear said:

Tourists who find 300 Baht a hindrance aren't worth having anyway. 

Thank you for adding to the conversation although it would seem you have missed the point. A) It's a tax. B) Is it a valid tax? C) How will it be implemented? 

[natway09]

They did not get rid of the departure tax. It is still there, just applied to your ticket charge.

Why not just add it to that ??