News Forum - Thailand ‘tourist tax’ to come into effect next year

[Thaiger]

Starting next year, foreigners entering Thailand by plane will have to pay an “entry fee” of 300 baht. The “tourist tax” was originally intended to be imposed at the start of this year, but its implementation was delayed to give Thailand’s tourism industry a chance to recover from the pandemic. The fee will be introduced “next year” – presumably January 1, 2023 – according to Thailand’s Minister of Tourism Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn. Foreigners flying into Thailand are required to pay the entry fee, no matter their visa status. Any foreigners who are in the Kingdom of Thailand for less than 24 […]

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[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

46 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

no matter their visa status

If you have a Thai family, you're still a tourist.

[JJJ]

Another claim this fee will come into force even though there’s so many open questions how it will be enforced.  I guess the one claiming it will start next year is the one with the power to spend the money.  These guys have no clue how to do anything. 

[HolyCowCm]

What are they going to do with the fee? Keep it and increase all entrance fees to parks and other places they can think to gouge at.

[Dialemco]

Would be interested to know how they plan to collect this tax. Foreigners may not have Thai Baht on arrival and Airlines may not legally be able to collect a tax which is discriminatory 

[HolyCowCm]

6 minutes ago, Dialemco said:

Would be interested to know how they plan to collect this tax. Foreigners may not have Thai Baht on arrival and Airlines may not legally be able to collect a tax which is discriminatory 

Thye will probably say bring in equiavalent to in your own money or Thai money and no change.

[Naksuthin]

Why are they imposing a fee that they jave no clear idea how it will be used or why it is needed.

I have travelled the world and the only place I was ever charged a fee was Nicaragua

[HolyCowCm]

19 minutes ago, Naksuthin said:

Why are they imposing a fee that they jave no clear idea how it will be used or why it is needed.

I have travelled the world and the only place I was ever charged a fee was Nicaragua

Thye had a 500 baht pay as you leave departure fee a long long time ago at the airport, and then this got compounded and hidden into airfare. But I believe that was also increased when they had the airlines hide it inot the ticket cost. They simply do not care, well they do care, but it is only about getting the tourist and foreingers money.

[Janneman]

42 minutes ago, Naksuthin said:

Why are they imposing a fee that they jave no clear idea how it will be used or why it is needed.

I have travelled the world and the only place I was ever charged a fee was Nicaragua

Yup 20 dollar. But then, for a lot of countries you need some kind of visa which usually comes at a price. Nicaragua is visa-free.

Edit: Nicaragua has dual pricing for most tourist attractions. I didnt mind, still very cheap.

If it is only 8 dollar entry for Thailand, who cares. How the government will use this money is their own business. If they decide to buy stealth bombers or submarines with it, great.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Janneman

[yselmike]

Anybody remember the scrum at Phnom Penh airport or the land borders,when you had to pay $20 on arrival for a visa? Before the e-visa. Then imagine 30million fighting at the airports in bangkok, waving money from all the country's of the world.

[longwood50]

Tourisim down looking to boost it?  Government:  I have an idea, lets put a new tax on arrivals, and approve foreigner higher pricing in hotel rooms.  I am sure that will lead to foreigners recognizing the higher value of coming to Thailand.  :)

[voyager]

300 baht... and not knowing into whose pockets is going, is not going to break the bank of tourists arriving on long-haul flights. 

BUT,.. starting in the New Year? 

You have to ask whether the average European traveller will have enough disposable income, after they've paid their energy bills in mid-winter, to pay for the journey, at current air fares, in the first place. 

[Marc26]

5 hours ago, longwood50 said:

Tourisim down looking to boost it?  Government:  I have an idea, lets put a new tax on arrivals, and approve foreigner higher pricing in hotel rooms.  I am sure that will lead to foreigners recognizing the higher value of coming to Thailand.  :)

Only cheap charlie old guys will care

 

The vast majority of tourists won't care at all

 

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, voyager said:

300 baht... and not knowing into whose pockets is going, is not going to break the bank of tourists arriving on long-haul flights. 

BUT,.. starting in the New Year? 

You have to ask whether the average European traveller will have enough disposable income, after they've paid their energy bills in mid-winter, to pay for the journey, at current air fares, in the first place. 

If a European traveller can't afford 300 baht, probably best they stay home and work................

[Skip]

16 hours ago, Naksuthin said:

Why are they imposing a fee that they jave no clear idea how it will be used or why it is needed.

I have travelled the world and the only place I was ever charged a fee was Nicaragua

Then you really are limited in your travels... google "countries with entry/exit fees... 

[Thommo]

300 baht  299 which will go to administration costs

[HiuMak]

Premium tourists only please.

[RJBT]

How many people have 300 Baht in THB or cash or even in other currency

When I used to travel to Thailand regularly in the early 2000's they had a departure tax when you left, this was not a problem

 On departure they can collect it as you will have baht

Now upon arrival my wife and I never had cash  only cards and the first thing we did was upon entering the concourse from customs was to draw cash.

If I pay in a foreign currency imagine the queues and arguments re the official rate commissions and paperwork etc

This previous tax was subsequently incorporated in the airline ticket

Where has that money disappeared to?

 

 

[longwood50]

18 hours ago, Marc26 said:

The vast majority of tourists won't care at all

It isn't the 300 baht.  It is the insanity of the policy.  You have airline travel that is at historic prices. You have the leftover scare of Covid that is still curtailing some travel  You have a huge increase in the number of businesses in Thailand that are failing and your answer is to make it more it even more expensive.  

Businesses run sales and promotions when they are looking to increase the number of customers they don't add a fee no matter how small it is. 

[TWS60]

A BKK Post article from 2013 outlined Thailand's plan to increase the existing DEPARTURE fee/tax from 100 to 200 Baht for domestic flights, and from 700 to 800 Baht for international flights.  I presume some version of that is still in-play, wrapped into the cost of airline tickets.  No belly-aching about that though, rather, on the government's then concurrent proposal to levy a new 500 Baht fee on ARRIVALS.

The article quotes the Public Health Minister saying the new 500 Baht fee would increase the quality of tourists arriving here, and also help cover the cost of foreign tourists absconding on hospital treatment bills.  You'll remember those two things were the flavor of the month rhetoric at the time. 

The tough-guy Army General who'd soon put himself in charge of the country, sought to clean up Thailand from the inside out, shedding its long-standing reputation as a magnet for sex tourism, kiddie fiddlers, spaced out hippies and all manner of criminals, to a wholesome, family-friendly destination attracting a higher quality of clientele. 

He energized Thai Immigration to finally get tough and slam the door on the Western/European model citizens living here via serial visa/border runs to get around financial and other requirements.  The panic was palpable as, one by one, the crackdown smoked out those who'd been hiding on Overstay Status - some for years and decades even.  BKK IDC awaited for some, 20k fine at the airport and one-way ticket back home to Mum, or for some, into the arms of waiting police.   Oh and you're banned from Thailand for years or even permanently.  Chok Dee and Sayonara.

It was and is a tough nut to crack.  Pattaya was one of the festering boogers on the end of Thailand's nose that Herr General was keen to flick off.  Nobody could have predicted he, and the Chinese financial interests, would finally get it done on the heels of a rather fortuitous Chinese-inspired global health calamity.  Last time I was down that end of Beach Rd., looked like the Black Hole of Calcutta just waiting for the wrecking ball to start swinging. 

[Marc26]

3 hours ago, longwood50 said:

It isn't the 300 baht.  It is the insanity of the policy.  You have airline travel that is at historic prices. You have the leftover scare of Covid that is still curtailing some travel  You have a huge increase in the number of businesses in Thailand that are failing and your answer is to make it more it even more expensive.  

Businesses run sales and promotions when they are looking to increase the number of customers they don't add a fee no matter how small it is. 

All that may be true but no one is going to care about 300 baht

 

Even the old guys on here complaining will absolutely end up paying for it

 

The other 95% won't even give it a 2nd thought 

[bushav8r]

It could simply be added to the current fee that airlines have been collecting for years without adding any bureaucracy or expense.  This may stymie the plans of some corrupt officials  who have come up with a plan to enrich themselves.

[Marc26]

14 minutes ago, bushav8r said:

It could simply be added to the current fee that airlines have been collecting for years without adding any bureaucracy or expense.  This may stymie the plans of some corrupt officials  who have come up with a plan to enrich themselves.

But how do they then not charge my wife, whose not a tourist, per se?

 

That is the issue with airlines adding it

[Marc26]

13 hours ago, RJBT said:

How many people have 300 Baht in THB or cash or even in other currency

When I used to travel to Thailand regularly in the early 2000's they had a departure tax when you left, this was not a problem

 On departure they can collect it as you will have baht

Now upon arrival my wife and I never had cash  only cards and the first thing we did was upon entering the concourse from customs was to draw cash.

If I pay in a foreign currency imagine the queues and arguments re the official rate commissions and paperwork etc

This previous tax was subsequently incorporated in the airline ticket

Where has that money disappeared to?

I've landed in a few countries and paid the tax.........it is usually available to pay in USD

 

I think Laos I had to pay, very small amount

[bushav8r]

6 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

But how do they then not charge my wife, whose not a tourist, per se?

That is the issue with airlines adding it

Airlines have been adding it for years now.