News Forum - Taxing times: Tourism Minister stands firm with 300 baht tourist tax

[Thaiger]

In a recent press conference, Thailand’s new Tourism and Sports Minister, Sermsak Pongpanich, hinted at the impending introduction of a tourist tax, known as the Kha Yeap Pan Din, translating to a landing fee. Although no specific timeline was provided for its implementation, the newly-appointed minister emphasised the unlikelihood of abandoning the proposed tax. Sermsak, … …

The story Taxing times: Tourism Minister stands firm with 300 baht tourist tax as seen on Thaiger News.

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[MrStretch]

The Tourism Minister is "standing firm" for one reason only.  The TAT has been pushing to change the focus from medical coverage for tourists and local tourism promotion to another revenue stream for them.  They spend way too much already for the the return they get but are insatiable and as long as Srettha is lacking any ideas for benefiting the Thai economy besides foreign money, they'll probably get it.

I've really no problem with a tourist tax, in and of itself.  In Malaysia, it's 10RM a night if you stay in a hotel, not per entry. 300 baht (perhaps with a limit on how many times you have to pay it if you are a recurring visitor in a calendar year) isn't that much in the grand scheme of what most foreigners will pay for their visit to the Land of Smiles.

Exemptions should also be made to any holding work permits or non-immigrant visas.  Those people aren't technically tourists.

The issue that I think most reasonable people have is that this is going to turn out to be nothing more than a corruption funnel and those that touch it will enrich themselves and no one will benefit, except them.

But this is Thailand, and with this government, it will be a cluster **** of epic proportions.

[ChrisS]

"revenue from the tourist tax was earmarked for foreigner insurance and bolstering the tourism development fund, aimed at enhancing accessibility and facilities at tourist sites."

Sadly I suspect most of this money will never be used to enhance accessibility and facilities at tourist sites, as for "foreigner insurance" maybe they should just introduce a ruling where proof of health insurance is a condition of entry for foreigners.

[Ramanathan.P]

The insurace will have lots of fine prints in it. Don't be complacent by the words. It is always good to have personal travel insurance. At the most it might cover only 10,000 Baht or certain number of visits to the authorized clinics or hospitals. 

[ChrisS]

5 hours ago, Ramanathan.P said:

It is always good to have personal travel insurance.

Couldn't agree more, also good to read the fine print of those personal travel insurances too, many for example specifically exclude riding motorcycles even if you have the correct licence.

[LeReynard]

On 5/31/2024 at 5:47 PM, ChrisS said:

Sadly I suspect most of this money will never be used to enhance accessibility and facilities at tourist sites, as for "foreigner insurance" maybe they should just introduce a ruling where proof of health insurance is a condition of entry for foreigners.

Then most Brita can't visit Thailand, because Brita don't usually have health insurance

[Ramanathan.P]

On 6/1/2024 at 6:18 PM, ChrisS said:

many for example specifically exclude riding motorcycles even if you have the correct licence.

That is the reason we bikers who normally ride on our bikes to Thailand will have both insurance, one for the bike and one for personal. That way both are covered should any unfortunate incident happens. 

[Pinetree]

18 minutes ago, Ramanathan.P said:

ride on our bikes to Thailand

'to Thialand'?  Where from? 

[Ramanathan.P]

7 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

'to Thialand'?  Where from? 

From Malaysia. Easy for us to just cross and ride for 30 days

[ChrisS]

12 hours ago, LeReynard said:

Then most Brita can't visit Thailand, because Brita don't usually have health insurance

Presuming you mean Brits as I am not sure what a Brita is as the only Brita I know is a water filter? Intrigued to know where you got that 'fact' from as I know many Brits who visit Thailand regularly and ALL have travel insurance as do I a Brit myself.

[LeReynard]

6 hours ago, ChrisS said:

Presuming you mean Brits as I am not sure what a Brita is as the only Brita I know is a water filter? Intrigued to know where you got that 'fact' from as I know many Brits who visit Thailand regularly and ALL have travel insurance as do I a Brit myself.

Then they are the sort of Brits who pay for private healthcare over NHS, I inagine.

[Ramanathan.P]

On 6/3/2024 at 4:12 AM, LeReynard said:

Then most Brita can't visit Thailand, because Brita don't usually have health insurance

There are bad apples in every country looking for "crowd funding" for easy way out. Hence we cannot pinpoint to a particular country. May be many such cases are happening in Thailand form one particular country. But that doesn't men that majority are the same. 

[ChrisS]

On 6/3/2024 at 4:23 PM, LeReynard said:

Then they are the sort of Brits who pay for private healthcare over NHS, I inagine.

Well I certainly don't 'pay for private healthcare over the NHS' and nor do the many Brits I know that travel to Thailand regularly and DO have health insurance. Of course in all nationalities there will be some who do not take out travel insurance.

[LeReynard]

11 hours ago, ChrisS said:

Well I certainly don't 'pay for private healthcare over the NHS' and nor do the many Brits I know that travel to Thailand regularly and DO have health insurance. Of course in all nationalities there will be some who do not take out travel insurance.

I guarantee most British holidaymakers who travel abroad, do not pay for such insurance.

[Scooter]

4 minutes ago, LeReynard said:

I guarantee most British holidaymakers who travel abroad, do not pay for such insurance.

How are you going to guarantee that ?

[Vigo]

44 minutes ago, LeReynard said:

I guarantee most British holidaymakers who travel abroad, do not pay for such insurance.

Did you know that many employers in the UK,  provide something called Group Health and Benefits?  An estimated 4.5 million UK employees now have the coverage and this extends to their spouses and families. That's out of an estimated 29 million  total employees. Travel insurance is typically included as a standard  benefit.

In respect to the people who do not have travel insurance provided in their group benefits; According to a 2024 Forbes Advisor poll, 40% of Brits buy travel insurance when they book a holiday, 14% buy a policy before they leave, 5% get travel cover as part of a packaged bank account, and 42% don’t buy travel insurance at all.

Travelers typically purchase the coverage for long haul holidays and not for short trips to the Continent. Know what?  UK  travelers to Thailand are more likely to  have travel health coverage than to not have it.

[ChrisS]

6 hours ago, LeReynard said:

I guarantee most British holidaymakers who travel abroad, do not pay for such insurance.

I believe you are wrong, A lot more Brits have travel insurance than don't, of course you only ever hear about the ones that don't. A bigger problem is that many do not read what is excluded from their policies,nearly all for exampleexclude riding motorcycles.

[Grumpish]

12 hours ago, ChrisS said:

I believe you are wrong, A lot more Brits have travel insurance than don't, of course you only ever hear about the ones that don't. A bigger problem is that many do not read what is excluded from their policies,nearly all for exampleexclude riding motorcycles.

My current annual policy is a gòod example - it excludes anything over 125cc even though I have held a full unrestricted UK licence for many years, unless I can show that I regularly ride in the UK. Which since I  have not ridden for quite a few years, ever since an idiot London cabbie trashed my knee doing a u-turn in front of me, is quite reasonable.