I have read an article in a local newspaper today saying that people who want to visit Thailand (presumable for less than 30 days - the article was not sufficiently clear, and to make things worse, I live in a country where the language spoken is not my mother tongue... ) now have to pay the equivalent of 1000 Baht. According to the article, this new rule applies to 17 countries, including the USA, Australia, most of Western Europe, Israel and the UAE. I don't understand if this means that everybody now has to get a visa, or a visa on arrival...? Has anybody on this forum heard about this?... It looked like a serious article in a major newspaper... I'm not sure what to make of it.

Don't do anything with it.

As of today - not true. In the future, may be, and may be not. It's pointless to worry now.

Discussed in this topic: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/690329-thai-foreign-ministry-asked-to-rethink-free-visa-fee-decision/