Airport Tax

[Payboy]

outbound from suvarnabhumi last week - saw staff at tg check-in collecting 1,400 baht from two very old ladies - probably tourists.

they argued saying it was charged in the ticket, then when they insisted on getting receipts they were asked to wait at the sofa (business check-in area) out of earshot of other passengers in the queue. i didnt hang around to see what happened next.

just wondering if this is another fast one being pulled at the hub of scams?

returned to bkk last night - took a taxi from the public taxi queue - saw the guy at the desk was writing 400-500 baht slips for people before me who were obviously tourists - he wrote me one as well, but changed to meter + 50 baht after i questioned it in thai... even skimming 200 baht from about 1,000 pax per day, amounts to 6 million bath a month!

[londonthai]

those ladies might have bought their tickets before it was known about the tax increase (around september 2007). Because Bangkok was one of a very few airports where there were charging tax on departure, the ladies thought they have already payed everything. The airline employee would loose job for ripping off passangers - and anyway all the charges (like for an extra weight) are payed not at the check in desk but at the airline office.

[nonthaburial]

Tend to agree that perhaps these ladies purchased their tickets before the change of rulings took place

[aussiedoug]

There is a line of taxes on your and everybody's ticket, the one you are looking for is labelled "TS" , at a conversion of THB to the currency you paid for your ticket in. So, if you got your ticekt before the tax was introduced you get asked for it, and I guess if it goes up they can ask, but usually don't bother about increases unless large ones.

[cubes2]

Had a flight with British airways 6 weeks a go, to the uk, had to pay 700 baht departure tax, this was an E ticket booked by my company, so there must have been some option to pay the tax at the airport or when the ticket was bought.

the flight was arranged three days before my travel,

I was issued with a receipt.

Possibly just a mistake when the ticket was booked.

[Gimbo]

Had a flight with British airways 6 weeks a go, to the uk, had to pay 700 baht departure tax, this was an E ticket booked by my company, so there must have been some option to pay the tax at the airport or when the ticket was bought.

the flight was arranged three days before my travel,

I was issued with a receipt.

Possibly just a mistake when the ticket was booked.

Same thing happened with me and my e-ticket 6 weeks ago. Annoying as the check in que was about 1,5 hours, due to some computer error, then when it was finally my turn, they informed me that airport tax was not included in my ticket...had to leg it over to another counter, stand 10 minutes there and wait to pay, then back to the first one...

[moonhunt]

outbound from suvarnabhumi last week - saw staff at tg check-in collecting 1,400 baht from two very old ladies - probably tourists.

they argued saying it was charged in the ticket, then when they insisted on getting receipts they were asked to wait at the sofa (business check-in area) out of earshot of other passengers in the queue. i didnt hang around to see what happened next.

just wondering if this is another fast one being pulled at the hub of scams?

returned to bkk last night - took a taxi from the public taxi queue - saw the guy at the desk was writing 400-500 baht slips for people before me who were obviously tourists - he wrote me one as well, but changed to meter + 50 baht after i questioned it in thai... even skimming 200 baht from about 1,000 pax per day, amounts to 6 million bath a month!

According to new rule, all airport tax so called Passenger Service Charge (PSC) should be collected by airline for all flight departing from Thailand since Feb 1, 2007.

Most of airline are including this PSC in their ticket price.

But very few may not include in ticket price, and they collect it from check-in counter.

Some may be scam causing by airline employee in checkin counter.

So best response for this kind of case is following in my humble opinion.

When you are asked to pay 700 Baht for PSC by airline employee,

make sure that you have official receipt containing paying amount with currency (USD or Thai Baht?), purpose, and receiving agent name along with employee ID and/or phone number.

After coming back from trip, you can contact your travel agency to confirm whether you double paid for PSC or not.

If it turns out to be double-paid and/or scam, you can contact travel agency and/or airline in your country for redund based on receipt plus maybe discount coupon/voucher based on some compensation based on hardship time you had to argue/spend during this additional PSC problem.

[cubes2]

Do you think people are paying this tax twice?

Can you prove this?

[jackmuu]

I refuse to believe that any employee of that international joke of an airport would try to rip you off.

[wpcoe]

The airport fee, whether included in the ticket price or paid separately, is B700 vs B500 for Don Muang.

Supposedly the airport is already operating almost at max capacity of 45,000,000 passengers per year.

Assuming even 40,000,000 people pay the extra B200, that little extra = B8,000,000,000! (~US$250 million)

The full B700 x 40 million = B28,000,000,000. (~US$850 million) Where is all that money going?

[scrunchielaura]

Supposedly the airport is already operating almost at max capacity of 45,000,000 passengers per year.

Assuming even 40,000,000 people pay ...

The 45 million counts both arrivals and departures. Only departing passengers pay the fee. That means only about 22 and half million times 700 baht.

[technocracy]

Supposedly the airport is already operating almost at max capacity of 45,000,000 passengers per year.

Assuming even 40,000,000 people pay ...

The 45 million counts both arrivals and departures. Only departing passengers pay the fee. That means only about 22 and half million times 700 baht.

Also don't forget transiting travellers don't pay the tax either, I think the majority of that 45,000,000 is transiting pax.

Another reason the folks might be being asked to pay the tax is maybe they where only intended to transit Thailand but decided to stopover - the tax isn't included. If they arranged the ticket change over the phone then they would have to pay the tax at the airport. I changed my transit ticket the last week at Thai office in Silom and had to pay the tax then.

[tijnebijn]

outbound from suvarnabhumi last week - saw staff at tg check-in collecting 1,400 baht from two very old ladies - probably tourists.

they argued saying it was charged in the ticket, then when they insisted on getting receipts they were asked to wait at the sofa (business check-in area) out of earshot of other passengers in the queue. i didnt hang around to see what happened next.

just wondering if this is another fast one being pulled at the hub of scams?

returned to bkk last night - took a taxi from the public taxi queue - saw the guy at the desk was writing 400-500 baht slips for people before me who were obviously tourists - he wrote me one as well, but changed to meter + 50 baht after i questioned it in thai... even skimming 200 baht from about 1,000 pax per day, amounts to 6 million bath a month!

According to new rule, all airport tax so called Passenger Service Charge (PSC) should be collected by airline for all flight departing from Thailand since Feb 1, 2007.

Most of airline are including this PSC in their ticket price.

But very few may not include in ticket price, and they collect it from check-in counter.

Some may be scam causing by airline employee in checkin counter.

So best response for this kind of case is following in my humble opinion.

When you are asked to pay 700 Baht for PSC by airline employee,

make sure that you have official receipt containing paying amount with currency (USD or Thai Baht?), purpose, and receiving agent name along with employee ID and/or phone number.

After coming back from trip, you can contact your travel agency to confirm whether you double paid for PSC or not.

If it turns out to be double-paid and/or scam, you can contact travel agency and/or airline in your country for redund based on receipt plus maybe discount coupon/voucher based on some compensation based on hardship time you had to argue/spend during this additional PSC problem.

This is an very sensible anwer to all the questions. If asked I would just pay after a short hesitation .

And do exactly what this poster mentioned . They will give it back . I had a problem coming back from a trip last may , payed for a ticket from BKK to Chiangmai beforehand . Thai airways did not get their confirmation , I got confused and had to pay for a second time . They relieved me from my inconvenience and gave me the money back showing Thaiairways I double payed the same trip............Good news is they took care of it and payed the amount back

[ya5702]

According to new rule, all airport tax so called Passenger Service Charge (PSC) should be collected by airline for all flight departing from Thailand since Feb 1, 2007.

Most of airline are including this PSC in their ticket price.

But very few may not include in ticket price, and they collect it from check-in counter.

Some may be scam causing by airline employee in checkin counter.

You are correct that the PSC should be included in the price of the ticket but Tiger Airways exploits this situation to pull one over its competitors. Tiger Airways does not include the Baht 700 PSC in the ticket price and remains silent about it. If you click on the "Fees & taxes" icon, a dropdown window will show again "Fees & taxes"!. You can try calling Tiger Airways for clarification but they would not answer the phone. Very clever Singaporeans!

Unwary passengers do not realise that Tiger's ticket price BKK-SIN actually costs more than Jetstar Airways (good on you, Australians) because Jetstar's ticket includes the Baht 700 PSC. Tiger Airways staff will collect the Baht 700 at BKK airport with a grin on their faces.

Be careful with Tiger Airways.

[jackspratt]

Interestingly, on a recent flight from Udon Thai - Singapore on Tiger I was charged TBH400 departure tax. Was not included in the ticket price.

I was given an official receipt for the payment.

[lazeeboy]

Interestingly, on a recent flight from Udon Thai - Singapore on Tiger I was charged TBH400 departure tax. Was not included in the ticket price.

I was given an official receipt for the payment.

tickets purchased before feb 07 does'nt jnclude the taxes after feb 07 its included in the ticket price.....

[samran]

Supposedly the airport is already operating almost at max capacity of 45,000,000 passengers per year.

Assuming even 40,000,000 people pay ...

The 45 million counts both arrivals and departures. Only departing passengers pay the fee. That means only about 22 and half million times 700 baht.

Also don't forget transiting travellers don't pay the tax either, I think the majority of that 45,000,000 is transiting pax.

Another reason the folks might be being asked to pay the tax is maybe they where only intended to transit Thailand but decided to stopover - the tax isn't included. If they arranged the ticket change over the phone then they would have to pay the tax at the airport. I changed my transit ticket the last week at Thai office in Silom and had to pay the tax then.

I think you'll find that the reason why they automated the passenger service charge was that under the old manual system transiting passengers couldn't be taxed. The new system allows it. I'm not sure whether they have gotten around to implementing it for all transiting passengers yet, but if they did, it would be inline with most modern airports which sting invisibly all passengers who use the airport, whether they are transiting or departing.

[moonhunt]

Interestingly, on a recent flight from Udon Thai - Singapore on Tiger I was charged TBH400 departure tax. Was not included in the ticket price.

I was given an official receipt for the payment.

tickets purchased before feb 07 does'nt jnclude the taxes after feb 07 its included in the ticket price.....

It seems like that Tiger Air is one of few who doesn't include PSC in ticket price.

New rule says that airline will collect PSC for outbound passengers, but it doesn't say how...

So most of them just includes it with ticket price when they charge it as Tax and Fees.

But some choose to separate it from ticket price, and ask passenger to pay at airport check-in counter for passenger to think their price is cheap.

So as I said in previous post, you can pay it as long as you have official receipt and employee info who receive the money.

If you have official receipt, you can check it's validity when you get back to home with airline or travel agency whom you bought the ticket from.

[Golden Nugget]

There is a line of taxes on your and everybody's ticket, the one you are looking for is labelled "TS" , at a conversion of THB to the currency you paid for your ticket in. So, if you got your ticekt before the tax was introduced you get asked for it, and I guess if it goes up they can ask, but usually don't bother about increases unless large ones.

This was confirmed by a United Airlines reservation agent here in the U.S. I'm cashing in my frequent flyer miles for a flight to Thailand and this thread got me wondering if I had to pay the 700B departure tax when leaving Thailand. The agent said that "TS" on my E-ticket receipt is the international code for Passenger Service Charge for Thailand. It reads "21.64TS" to be exact. So I was charged 21.64USD and that roughly comes out to 700B using the offshore exchange rate. Now I know what to point to if asked to pay at the airport.

[UnknownPoster]

It's a shame that travelers have to question every singel transaction, suspecting they are being scammed.

Why does Thailand have that reputation I wonder?

[erikr_]

outbound from suvarnabhumi last week - saw staff at tg check-in collecting 1,400 baht from two very old ladies - probably tourists.

they argued saying it was charged in the ticket, then when they insisted on getting receipts they were asked to wait at the sofa (business check-in area) out of earshot of other passengers in the queue. i didnt hang around to see what happened next.

just wondering if this is another fast one being pulled at the hub of scams?

returned to bkk last night - took a taxi from the public taxi queue - saw the guy at the desk was writing 400-500 baht slips for people before me who were obviously tourists - he wrote me one as well, but changed to meter + 50 baht after i questioned it in thai... even skimming 200 baht from about 1,000 pax per day, amounts to 6 million bath a month!

meter +50 is in bangkok, outside bangkok is an agreed price. Just read the signs and stop being so paranoia

[backflip]

"even skimming 200 baht from about 1,000 pax per day, amounts to 6 million bath a month!"

We can do math, but you have a hard time with life. You're making the assumption that people are overcharged, and you have no proof of this.

[Payboy]

"even skimming 200 baht from about 1,000 pax per day, amounts to 6 million bath a month!"

We can do math, but you have a hard time with life. You're making the assumption that people are overcharged, and you have no proof of this.

and you can try getting your head out of the sand in a 100 years....

taxi from the public taxi queue

.....

writing 400-500 baht slips

Edited September 21, 2007 by Payboy

[Thaicoon]

They scammed me and the eldest Daughter, had to pay 1400 Baht, we purchased our tickets in August, late booking, on the return to the UK the check in girl with Thai, told us you have to go and pay airport tax, i argued with her, and she insisted she was right, so was sent to a room laid out like a bank, paid the taxes, then had to go back and pick up our boarding pass, which she insisted on keeping, no one even checked this tax receipt, like the old days.

The other two passangers, my wife and yougest daughter, check in girl said they are ok, but she tried charging 7 days overstay for my other daughter which is 5, my wife told her she was wrong, and there was a little shouting in Thai, i think this girl had a bee in her boonet and was trying to show her authority, my wife asked the immigration officer about the overstay, my wife was right.

Sometimes these officials i think are Jealous when they see our wives and girlfriends with an indefinate stay visa for the UK.

[londonthai]

go straith to the supervisor or even the airline airport office.

if you had a paper ticket than all taxes should be shown there

[waribai]

I have got a 18 hour stopover on a TG flight from Japan to the UK in December. Assuming they give me my BKK-LHR boarding pass when I leave Japan and my bags are checked through to LHR, how and when will they enforce the Thai departure tax?

[britmaveric]

You are intransit - doesnt count for departure tax.

[londonthai]

with 18h do some sighseeing and get some sleep - in that case you will have to pay 700baht departure tax

[waribai]

You are intransit - doesnt count for departure tax.

Really? Even if I venture outside the airport?

[Maestro]

There is a line of taxes on your and everybody's ticket, the one you are looking for is labelled "TS" ...

Thank you, Aussiedoug. This prompted me to look at my e-ticket and I see that the airport tax of BKK airport is included:

I read the breakdown as follows:

CHF 244.00 Total charges
CHF  75.00 Swiss airport taxes
CHF  26.50 Thai airport tax
CHF 142.50 Other charges (fuel surcharge, etc)

--

Maestro