Tourists may be required to pay entrance fee for visiting Koh Tao

[Felixthecat]

It depends how much? You'd think B200 would be ok though if it was over B500+ then its getting on the ridiculous side of things IMO.

[Lite Beer]

Koh Tao considers charging and entrance fee for visiting the island

KOH TAO: -- A meeting between tourism operators and local residents of Koh Tao recently took place where a resolve was made to charge and entrance fee for tourists wishing to visit the island. The idea behind a fee would be to use the funds collected to boost security on the island. It was decided at the meeting that the Koh Tao Municipality that a public hearing would be held to decide the cost of the fee.

The move comes after weeks of speculation on how to improve tourist safety after the brutal murders of two backpackers, a crime that has gained heavy international press interest. So far police have been unable to solve the crime on the tiny island that has gained widespread interest from around the globe, although many of the stories published in the press have been confusing and contradictory. Reports have suggested that tourists on the island should be tagged or given a wrist band in order to increase their security, an idea that has been widely scoffed globally for being totally impractical.

The global press interest in the murder case has prompted The Royal Thai Police and the Ministry of the Interior as well as the Prime minster to address the issues of tourist security, especially on islands such as Koh Tao who rely so heavily on the income they provide.

There is no doubt the recent crime will have an effect on the numbers visiting Koh Tao and the international press coverage with dubious facts regarding the investigation of the case will surely do nothing to increase tourist confidence either.

-- Samui Times 2014-10-02

[meand]

I honestly believe there are 12 year olds with more sense.

[transam]

Think it more like they want farangs to pay the bill for the farang's demise investigation..For sure, and thats how Thai folk think.

[JOC]

This country is rapidly going down the drain!!

Makes me sick to my stomach with so much stupidity gathered in one place!

Please wake me up, and tell me, that the last couple of weeks has only been a bad dream!!

[Snig27]

Maybe there's a sweepstake running at government house to see who can come up with the best idea to destroy Thai tourism. There are some pretty strong contenders out there in the past few weeks.

barking mad ...

[Soutpeel]

I sincerely believe this is a case of Thai economics's 101 coming into play, they are expecting a decrease in tourists because of this case, therefore decreased revenues, so how would one maintain similar revenue rates out of less people ? charge those who do come more..nothing to do with paying for security

What do a lot of hotels and business do when business is down...they increase the rates and prices of things to make up for the short fall..this KT fee thing is exactly this

the fee will be split among "interested parties" to maintain cash flow...no intention of paying for increased security

[NeverSure]

They have it bass ackwards. I think they'll need to pay people to go there.

[Mango Bob]

I can't stop laughing about this story. Now they want you to pay protection money. You think this is going to increase tourism.

[ChrisY1]

Before we heard about the electronic tags, now about entrance fee to an island.

I said it before and I will say it again.

Are these people serious coming up with suggestions like that?

Yes...I think they really are serious....this is how they think....backward, immature, unknowledgeable...and just plain silly.

Will local tourists have to pay also......my guess is it would be as per the double pricing system that abounds here......30THB for locals...500THB for foreigners.

Edited October 2, 2014 by ChrisY1

[culicine]

Sounds like protection money to me

[Soutpeel]

The idea behind a fee would be to use the funds collected to boost security maintain revenue streams on the island due to decreasing tourist numbers following the gruesome murders of two British tourists recently..

There is no doubt the recent crime will have an effect on the numbers visiting Koh Tao and the international press coverage with dubious facts regarding the investigation of the case will surely do nothing to increase tourist confidence either.

[casindonet]

Brilliant....brilliant beyond believe. I hope the whole island tourist industry go bust & they can keep all the police farce on the island too.

[Tatsujin]

I honestly believe there are 12 year olds with more sense.

There are ... they're just not Thai.

[chotthee]

Like Thai people applying for Visa to Europe, Thailand should force tourist to purchase Insurance when visiting Thailand.

So if the tourist is hurt, sick, murder, etc; whatever, they can claim from their insurer, NOT burden the poor Thai tax payers.

[meand]

I sincerely believe this is a case of Thai economics's 101 coming into play, they are expecting a decrease in tourists because of this case, therefore decreased revenues, so how would one maintain similar revenue rates out of less people ? charge those who do come more..nothing to do with paying for security

What do a lot of hotels and business do when business is down...they increase the rates and prices of things to make up for the short fall..this KT fee thing is exactly this

the fee will be split among "interested parties" to maintain cash flow...no intention of paying for increased security

You know, I did not think of that, but I totally agree with you. It is like when they charge you 5 baht for ice. This is the way Thais think "if I lose money, I must charge more". I really think you are onto something, they saw the potential loss of revenue coming, and thought they'd counteract that by boosting their "taxes". I think you nailed it.

[NongKhaiKid]

Can't believe this, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Yes but they won't be.

There's money to be made and they go straight for it. This time they put up the weak front that it's needed for extra security and to add insult to injury they honestly expect people to buy it and be thankful to them for ' protection '.

The govt should be all over this as it projects the image that parts of LoS aren't safe unless you pay for security that should be taken for granted in a reasonable society.

Add this to bracelet, electronic tagging, security areas etc and rather than encouraging tourists the idiots in the industry are doing their best to scare them away.

[Thai at Heart]

I implore anyone who has any friends considering to go to koh Tao to tell them to boycott it.

Only then will anything change.

[evadgib]

On neighboring Koh Phangan an exclusion zone appears around Haad Rin on full moon night; THB 100 into a bucket with no receipt is demanded of any non asian wishing to attend, an 'offer they can't refuse'. Given the numbers (5k to 30k revelers per moon) & related scams associated with captive audiences the place should rival HK, Monaco, Singapore re infastructure by now...

Edited October 2, 2014 by evadgib

[Elmer Gantry]

One other option is to take your own bodyguards,here are a couple of suggestions.Covers all bases ( no insult intended ).

[Fiddlesticks]

It should be painfully obvious now that money is the only thing that Thai are interested in. The audacity of these people to look for ways to profit from this tragedy. Make no mistake, security and tourist welfare is the farthest thing from the minds of these insane people. Revenue, money, greed is all that they can think about. I just hope that the tourists planning a vacation will see what this land is all about. Anyone wanting to get a glimpse of what the culture is like in SE Asia would be better served visiting more picturesque countries such as Myanmar or Vietnam. Sure, the lowlife sex tourists will continue to come here but as far as I am concerned, they deserve everything that gets handed to them. I just hope family vacationers wise up and learn that Thailand is not a vacation paradise.

[Tham1]

Incredible.....I would rather burn my money than pay it to these clowns, stick your Island up your arse

[SABloke]

Like Thai people applying for Visa to Europe, Thailand should force tourist to purchase Insurance when visiting Thailand.

So if the tourist is hurt, sick, murder, etc; whatever, they can claim from their insurer, NOT burden the poor Thai tax payers.

You're joking right??? Please tell me you're joking..

[Soutpeel]

I sincerely believe this is a case of Thai economics's 101 coming into play, they are expecting a decrease in tourists because of this case, therefore decreased revenues, so how would one maintain similar revenue rates out of less people ? charge those who do come more..nothing to do with paying for security

What do a lot of hotels and business do when business is down...they increase the rates and prices of things to make up for the short fall..this KT fee thing is exactly this

the fee will be split among "interested parties" to maintain cash flow...no intention of paying for increased security

You know, I did not think of that, but I totally agree with you. It is like when they charge you 5 baht for ice. This is the way Thais think "if I lose money, I must charge more". I really think you are onto something, they saw the potential loss of revenue coming, and thought they'd counteract that by boosting their "taxes". I think you nailed it.

in same vein, I like to predict and increase in hotel, accommodation, services and activities fee's as well on KT in the near future..

[chrisinth]

"A meeting of tourism operators and local residents of Koh Tao in Surat Thani resolved during a meeting Thursday to collect an entrance fee from visiting tourists"

Perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why tourism operators and local residents are making decisions like this?

That's what governments are for, else everyone will be charging for everything everywhere......................

Scrots shouldn't have the authority to do this, and the media shouldn't be publishing said rubbish.

IMHO of course.

[DLock]

You would think that the island community would see that providing good security, police, cameras and assuring safety would be in their interests...and hence their cost of doing business and attracting tourists.

...but I guess they aren't real bright.

And I never understood these bracelets anyway. Besides identifying the bodies quicker, how would they have benefitted the 2 murdered tourists on Koh Tao?

I wish someone smarter than me would start a website called www.dirtythailand.com and cover all these murders, scams, corruption, etc...(domain is still available). Would love potential tourists to have a single domain where all the dirty deeds in Thailand are listed and not forgotten...anyone interested?

[SABloke]

All tourists or just foreign tourists?

[Nickymaster]

Making it a national "park" and ask an entrance fee in order to have more money to make it safer and cleaner. No problem for me.

Edited October 2, 2014 by Nickymaster

[Thai at Heart]

"A meeting of tourism operators and local residents of Koh Tao in Surat Thani resolved during a meeting Thursday to collect an entrance fee from visiting tourists"

Perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why tourism operators and local residents are making decisions like this?

That's what governments are for, else everyone will be charging for everything everywhere......................

Scrots shouldn't have the authority to do this, and the media shouldn't be publishing said rubbish.

IMHO of course.

I would love to know the average IQ of the assembled mass of humanity at this meeting.

[Nickymaster]

All tourists or just foreign tourists?

Yes. Thais don't really go to those Party islands to relax.