1,000 baht/day minimum overhead charge set for Chinese tourists

[chicowoodduck]

Make it a million and hopefully will keep most of them back on China!???

[alocacoc]

Better ban Chinese tourists. They are annoying. Why they they don't do holiday in China? China is so big.

[BangkokTony]

Will the Chinese tourists have to show receipts upon departure?

 

[moe666]

5 hours ago, smedly said:

lets face it, we are all fully aware that Chinese tourist comes here - stay in specific prepaid hotels - get ferried around on prepaid buses to prepaid attractions staring out the windows - eat at specific prepaid places - the buses cause massive congestion  ............they spend FA then go home and never come back.

 

Farangs on the other hand - book their own flights - book their own hotels - pay for taxis - eat everywhere - spend loads everyday - enjoy themselves and come back 6 months later for another 3-4 weeks, yes economies poor and money is tight - exchange rates are a challenge so that is going to have an impact, can you imagine if Thailand decided to charge everyone on entry 1000baht a day at the airport for all tourists lol.  Don't laugh about that because that is how they think, bar have no customer so put price up - a fine example of that is walking street in Pattaya were they just got too greedy and out priced the market, in other parts some have realised this and dropped their prices and are now doing a roaring trade

Many farang tourist come on tours every year to Thailand, in fact I have set with them over a meal or two here in Chiang Mai. Get your facts straight before posting nonsense. Believe it or not there are a lot of Chinese who come to Thailand who are not on atour usually younger travellers

[elephant45]

They will never win, the dike has been opened worldwide and the water will continue flowing until the planet is flooded.

[hobobo]

6 hours ago, Rorri said:

"Quality" tourist or not, no government has the right to demand a tourist must spend a minimum  amount each day.... period. Now how would they monitor it and what stops them spending at all the same shops they are already herded to.

Some governments do, and a lot higher than the 30 bucks a day levied on the Chinese. Google Bhutan for example - minimum US$ 250 a day, and that's a reduction on charges 15, 20 years ago!

[mrmicbkktxl]

7 hours ago, Rorri said:

"Quality" tourist or not, no government has the right to demand a tourist must spend a minimum  amount each day.... period. Now how would they monitor it and what stops them spending at all the same shops they are already herded to.

I wonder what would happen if Spain tells the germans,french and english tourists you have to spend xxx amount if you want to come to Spain.Or if spain would close the border for cars or campers.Oh man what a greedy failed state Thailand is

[Lupatria]

That’s one step further than the mandatory exchange for westerners, implemented by states of the eastern block during the cold war…

[smew]

Now that Thailand kick out Joshua Wong on  Chinese request Thai tourism can get the 1000 baht per day levy granted and approved by Beijing, fake receipts are accepted( get your receipt books at 7-11) and more quality screaming spent nothing Chinese  tourists to come. Bravo ! And the beat goes on and on

 

 

 

[elephant45]

That machine is not a blood pressure thing but  a Quality Tourist Analyzer.

[elephant45]

They stick it up your ...and it measures how much MSG, Glyphosate and Fish Oil is in your system, there for determining where you have been eating and spend your money. Too many noodles, you're out. 

[Broeno]

Nonsens of the day.

[elephant45]

Thank You, I cant take anything very seriously here anymore, its just too confusing...20 years around these part, lots of Brain Plasticity gone awry.

[Kiwisailor]

2 hours ago, Emster23 said:

Like drilling a hole in bottom of boat to let the water out....

Or mooring boats facing upriver with their motors running to prevent floods in Bangkok.

[RigPig]

And this money will filter back to the people who's buisinesses are suffering because of the package tours how?

 

Ah a trip overseas will be necessary for someone to investigate the issue.......

 

They can't even enforce motorcycle helmets how do they think this is gonna work?  Ahh brown envelopes... ALWAYS the answer to problems!!!

[CantSpell]

7 hours ago, starky said:

Honestly mate couldn't care less. Just another one of the ridiculous statements made by this farce of government that is impossible to enforce and will never happen anyway. Cheers. 

 

Brilliant, so now we have the 1000 Baht tours.... 

 

1000 Baht more per day for chinese operators to be transferred back to China?

 

Or does the tour guide have to pay the money to, maybe, the police or the immigration office on departure? 

 

Edit: Or using previous genius ideas, maybe a wrist band linked to an expenses tracking Simcard? Any amount lower than 1000THB per day could then be charged as overstay/underspent  fees 

Edited October 6, 2016 by CantSpell

[elephant45]

Time to leave permanently

[chilli42]

I am not keen to see the number of Chinese tourists increase.  However, this is really an ineffective solution to the problem.  What a tourist spends per day is up to them regardless of nationality.  The right direction would be to go after the tour operators directly and cancel their operating license if they transgress.

[boomerangutang]

I too am flummoxed by the new law.  There's a 50/50 chance it won't be enforced, but if so, here's how it may manifest:

 

Chinese tour group comes in to Suwanboom.  An imm officer (dedicated person?) asks the tour leader how many in group and how many days the group plans to stay.   Note: if they leave at 12:20 am, are they charged an added full day?   What if an impostor (dressed in a 700 baht uniform, with shiny badge) greets the tour group leader - and collects the money?   

 

What about Chinese who don't travel in groups?  There must be some.  And will this ridiculous edict be passed on to tourists from all countries?   I've known for years that MSG jangles brain cells.  How much MSG do the people who write such screwy laws ingest?

[gdgbb]

8 hours ago, Rorri said:

"Quality" tourist or not, no government has the right to demand a tourist must spend a minimum  amount each day.... period. Now how would they monitor it and what stops them spending at all the same shops they are already herded to.

 

Try reading the report again, that is not what is happening, there is no mention of tourists being required to spend any minimum amount.  There is a longstanding  regulation that demands that tour operators do not sell packages below cost and that is what the OP is about.

[gdgbb]

8 hours ago, IMA_FARANG said:

What happens to a Chinese tourist then if by chance one day they only spend 900  Baht?

Wull they be detained, arrested, and fined for not meeting the daily minimum?

And who keeps track of how much that tourist spends daily, anyhow?

 

 

Nothing will happen, they can spend nothing if they wish.  This is not about tourists' spending, it's about package tour charges.

[gdgbb]

4 hours ago, yellowboat said:

Also picking on the Chinese is lame.  Other nationalities are allowed to pay less ?  Good thing Thailand is not striving to be an open and fair society.  Otherwise, it would be making a fool out of itself. 

 

No, other nationalities are "not allowed to pay less".  Other nationalities are not taking the piss out of Thailand by offering below cost, zero dollar tours as the Chinese are.

[Briggsy]

Until they start locking people up, nothing will change.

[Emster23]

I think it has to do with upgrade of immigration, tourism and police. Cheap brown envelopes to be replaced with nice modern white ones.

[JohnMiller70]

This confirms what I thought: that a vast majority of people cannot read. Crossy is right. The law is not a levy on tour companies; it is a requirement that tour companies charge tourists a minimu of 1000 baht a day. 

 

That said, it is irrisory. It just shows how mediocre people in charge of public institutions make unsound decisions that end up wasting a lot of time and money to the rest. It's not only in Thailand. It's everywhere. In my last trip in the U.K. I was told that not only I couldn't carry any liquids in containers of more than 100 ml, but that I also could only carry as many of those below 100ml as fit in a particular size ziplock bag. Who in hell comes up with these policies? Mediocre people who are out of touch

[jackspratt498]

7 hours ago, overherebc said:

 

In most cases the operator would be Chinese owned so the cash would just be doing a circle and coming back to the operator.

 

Oh absolutely but they just want to make sure that the tourists arent't being pressured to recoup the cost of the tour after they get here via commission scams. They're just trying to weed out the zero dollar guys.

[michaellee]

14 hours ago, Rorri said:

"Quality" tourist or not, no government has the right to demand a tourist must spend a minimum  amount each day.... period. Now how would they monitor it and what stops them spending at all the same shops they are already herded to.

Agreed!! This is the most ridiculous policy I've heard of. Nowhere else but ONLY in Thailand

[kannot]

9 hours ago, flyingdoc said:

As I understand it, it is a levy to ensure that tour operators include a spending sum of at least 1,000 baht per day, which can be spent in any way chosen.  Exactly the same is applied in Bhutan, except that the fee is far higher at a minimum of $250 USD per day, but can be spent on hotels, transport, meals etc.  By going in as a backpacker, you would still have to pay the daily levy, except you would lose out heavily !

im never going to bhutan  then

[Xircal]

13 hours ago, Crossy said:

If I am understanding correctly, this is not a charge being made by the Thai government, it is the minimum that the tour operator can charge their clients for a trip to Thailand.

 

The idea being that tourists cannot be charged below cost then taken to iffy outlets to buy over-priced tat for which the tour operators receive commission.

 

Just how they intend enforcing this is anyone's guess.

 

Chinese tour advert, "Pay 14,000 Baht for 14 days in Thailand, receive 14,000 Baht to spend in one of our many tat outlets".

 

 

 

What's to prevent the Thai tour operators from continuing the scam even after the Chinese tourists have been penalised to the tune of 1,000 baht a day?

 

What's more likely to happen is that the scammers will simply take the view that they've been handed a bonus and carry on as normal.

 

 

[balo]

Just another silly idea , it will never happen so nothing to worry about .