News Forum - Thailand isn’t the only place in the world that applies tourist taxes

[Thaiger]

Thailand is about to add an arrival ‘tourist’ tax of 300 baht. But it’s not really a tourist tax because it will apply to ALL foreigners entering Thailand, including YOU. No exemptions, not even your work permit or diplomatic status will help. The proposal, set to come into force in Q4, 2022, will be in the form of a 300 baht levy added to your inbound airfare. But Thailand has had arrival and departure taxes in the past and, truth is, they don’t have any long term effect on the number of people coming through the turnstiles. But the new […]

The story Thailand isn’t the only place in the world that applies tourist taxes as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Haole.TH]

The author seems to have done some research, but is misleading about how any "tourist tax" is applied in other countries.

a) He should have stated the current "exit" tax that is applied when flying out of Thailand,
b)  The hotel tax in the US is for ALL people renting a room - foreign and domestic.  In Thailand it is for foreigners only
c)  "that part of the fee will “be used to take care of tourists” as there have been times when health insurance didn’t cover them"  Why not find out what this new tax is really for?

This whole article is really cr*p reporting.

[Pinetree]

The UK, all of Europe and the US all have Passenger Duty Tax on airline tickets, which is in effect a tourist tax. So much unnecessary  heat being generated by a trivial subject. 

[Artemis080]

Poor article.

Australia doesn’t have a tourist tax as such, but charges a Goods and Services Tax for most products and services.

Thailand has sales tax/VAT. Exactly the same thing!

I don't care about 300 thb included in flight tickets at a covid recovery tax, but I do wince at trying to sell it as some useful insurance. Be honest, that insurance is for the benefit of private health care, which have long struggled with a few foreigners skipping on hospital bills. It will just give them access to the slush fund, the rest of which will be otherwise skimmed or misappropriated.

[TSS]

Hawaii always had a hotel room tax of 10.3%. Another 3% was recently added. Everyone pays a general sales tax of 4.5%- 4.75% on everything incl. food, medical. 

Surf is free but no bargains in Hawaii. Highest taxes in the U.S.

 

 

[JJJ]

54 minutes ago, Haole.TH said:

The author seems to have done some research, but is misleading about how any "tourist tax" is applied in other countries.

a) He should have stated the current "exit" tax that is applied when flying out of Thailand,
b)  The hotel tax in the US is for ALL people renting a room - foreign and domestic.  In Thailand it is for foreigners only
c)  "that part of the fee will “be used to take care of tourists” as there have been times when health insurance didn’t cover them"  Why not find out what this new tax is really for?

This whole article is really cr*p reporting.

And even reviewing the list Thailand falls into small company with Bhutan, Nepal, and New Zealand with this type of tax.  I thought Australia you had to pay like $30 to get the electronic authorization to enter, which is similar  

The fact is the government collects a lot of revenue from VAT paid by tourists while providing very few services. Many tourists in a week or two week stay likely pay more Vat than a lot of locals over a whole year. That’s fine. VAT and hotel taxes is neutral in that you pay more when you spend more. 

The entry fee is regressive but perhaps that’s the whole point. It will hurt Mayalsia, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia travelers the most.  

Technically tourist receipts are considered exports but tourist receipts pay VAT while goods exports do not collect VAT.

while in absolute terms the fee isn’t a lot, it shows just how tone deaf this government is about promoting tourism and how inept they are in implementation.

I personally doubt they are nearly as close to solving the implementation issues as they say. Also 4Q implementation seems awfully optimist as they haven’t even published the regulation which will take 90 days for effectiveness. 

In short it’s a poorly thought out tax with even poorer execution, making par for the course for this government. 

[Brawn]

Looks like some readers have given you a real bo**ocking over this article. Take it easy mate, Sunday's are supposed to be a holiday...ease up a bit.

[Bluesofa]

3 hours ago, Thaiger said:

UK
In July 2020 the Chancellor announced a series of initiatives to boost job creation in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, including a temporary 5% Value Added Tax rate on most tourist and hospitality-related activities.

To me, that seems to give the impression it's a new tax of 5%, whereas it's a reduction from the standard national VAT rate of 20%.

[Janneman]

It is a bit misleading to compare a hotel tax with an entry or exit fee. In most countries hotel taxes apply to every tourist, foreign and domestic.

The Thai entry fee is only like 10 US$, no big deal. But the destination of that money is vague, and changing every month. Which might annoy people.

There are countries where you actually have to pay a cash entry fee at the airport. Nicaragua is one of them, foreigners pay 20 US$ at immigration. They also have dual pricing for tourist attractions. I didnt care since for a foreigner it was still very cheap. Vietnam used to have something similar, dunno if they still have it. For Cape Verde you need a 30 US$ entry visa. Which of course is just an entry fee for foreigners in disguise.

[Melthorn]

Why are people whinging? Insurance for 300 baht a real bargain. Well done Thailand.

[Jafagreg]

I don't really care about this tax. I already get health insurance when I travel and , happily have never benefited from it yet. Just happy to be able to get back to Thailand soon.

[Alavan]

5 hours ago, Pinetree said:

The UK, all of Europe and the US all have Passenger Duty Tax on airline tickets, which is in effect a tourist tax. So much unnecessary  heat being generated by a trivial subject. 

I suppose you mean an airport tax, which every airport asks per passenger, even if in transit and not entering the country.
But that tax is for everybody, whatever nationality, and covers the airport 's expenses.
That is why cheap airlines like Ryan air fly to airports not close to the major cities, as the taxes are lower.

[Pinetree]

1 hour ago, Alavan said:

I suppose you mean an airport tax, which every airport asks per passenger, even if in transit and not entering the country.
But that tax is for everybody, whatever nationality, and covers the airport 's expenses.
That is why cheap airlines like Ryan air fly to airports not close to the major cities, as the taxes are lower.

It is levied by the government, not the airports and goes to the government not the airports.  Your second point is correct.  

[dimitri]

8 hours ago, Pinetree said:

The UK, all of Europe and the US all have Passenger Duty Tax on airline tickets, which is in effect a tourist tax. So much unnecessary  heat being generated by a trivial subject. 

 

Just checked my tickets to and from NL. There are a lot of fees and charges, but no Passenger Duty tax. I think this is typical for the UK.

 

[dimitri]

54 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

It is levied by the government, not the airports and goes to the government not the airports.  Your second point is correct.  

 

It is a charge to cover the costs of the airport. It has nothing to do with the government. Unless of course the government owns the airport.

 

[dimitri]

5 hours ago, Janneman said:

There are countries where you actually have to pay a cash entry fee at the airport. Nicaragua is one of them, foreigners pay 20 US$ at immigration.

 

For Thailand you pay 70 Euro to the consulate to get a visa. Paying USD 20 at immigration sounds cheap.

There are a lot of ways to get money out of the pockets of tourists. I am not sure if you can compare all of them.

 

[Pinetree]

3 minutes ago, dimitri said:

It is a charge to cover the costs of the airport. It has nothing to do with the government. Unless of course the government owns the airport.

You are wrong, at least in  terms of the UK.  I was the CEO of 2 UK regional airports,  so I know where that money goes. 

[dimitri]

Just now, Pinetree said:

You are wrong, at least in  terms of the UK.  I was the CEO of 2 UK regional airports,  so I know where that money goes. 

 

Yeah.  If it happens in the UK it will happen all over the world.

 

So you are wrong if you say "It is levied by the government, not the airports and goes to the government not the airports. "

 

There is more than only the UK in this world.

 

 

[Pinetree]

24 minutes ago, dimitri said:

Yeah.  If it happens in the UK it will happen all over the world.

So you are wrong if you say "It is levied by the government, not the airports and goes to the government not the airports. "

There is more than only the UK in this world.

whatever mate, believe what you like 

[Mohandas]

9 hours ago, Haole.TH said:

The author seems to have done some research, but is misleading about how any "tourist tax" is applied in other countries.

a) He should have stated the current "exit" tax that is applied when flying out of Thailand,
b)  The hotel tax in the US is for ALL people renting a room - foreign and domestic.  In Thailand it is for foreigners only
c)  "that part of the fee will “be used to take care of tourists” as there have been times when health insurance didn’t cover them"  Why not find out what this new tax is really for?

This whole article is really cr*p reporting.

To be expected, yes?

Oh well.....

[Guest1]

9 hours ago, Artemis080 said:

Be honest, that insurance is for the benefit of private health care, which have long struggled with a few foreigners skipping on hospital bills

Privat hospitals wanna "see" money or at least a credit card, BEFORE they start working. Without that: Transfer to government hospital. The government hospitals are the ones with open bills

[Highlandman]

6 hours ago, Janneman said:

It is a bit misleading to compare a hotel tax with an entry or exit fee. In most countries hotel taxes apply to every tourist, foreign and domestic.

The Thai entry fee is only like 10 US$, no big deal. But the destination of that money is vague, and changing every month. Which might annoy people.

There are countries where you actually have to pay a cash entry fee at the airport. Nicaragua is one of them, foreigners pay 20 US$ at immigration. They also have dual pricing for tourist attractions. I didnt care since for a foreigner it was still very cheap. Vietnam used to have something similar, dunno if they still have it. For Cape Verde you need a 30 US$ entry visa. Which of course is just an entry fee for foreigners in disguise.

There are only a small handful of examples of dual pricing left in Vietnam, one being the Imperial Palace in Hue. Otherwise, officially speaking at least, Vietnam is 95% dual pricing free. At one time, up until around 20 years ago, dual pricing was in place for domestic airline tickets (also in Laos at the time), train and bus fares and hotels, in addition to some tourist attractions. Nearly all of this, save for a small number of tourist attractions has since been lifted.

[Highlandman]

39 minutes ago, Guest1 said:

Privat hospitals wanna "see" money or at least a credit card, BEFORE they start working. Without that: Transfer to government hospital. The government hospitals are the ones with open bills

That's not true at all. I only ever go to private hospitals and in the case of emergency or an urgent matter, I get treated immediately THEN presented with the bill at the end. They hold you until you pay though.

[Highlandman]

9 hours ago, Pinetree said:

The UK, all of Europe and the US all have Passenger Duty Tax on airline tickets, which is in effect a tourist tax. So much unnecessary  heat being generated by a trivial subject. 

Yet in those countries, it's not levied ONLY on foreigners. This subject is controversial because Thailand is levying the fee only on foreign nationals. I'd much rather if it was 500 Baht for ALL, then 300 Baht only for foreigners. Besides, Thais who can afford to travel abroad, can certainly pay a few Baht extra on their plane tickets.

[Grumpish]

9 hours ago, JJJ said:

The entry fee is regressive but perhaps that’s the whole point. It will hurt Mayalsia, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia travelers the most.

Particularly Cambodia and Laos, where a lot of the cross-border traffic is small scale day traders, rather than tourists.