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


Lite Beer

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Koh Tao considers charging and entrance fee for visiting the island

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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.

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-- Samui Times 2014-10-02

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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 by ChrisY1
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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.

wink.png

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 by evadgib
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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..wink.png

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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?

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