News Forum - Thailand to charge foreign arrivals 500 baht “tourism fee” from next year

[vlad]

7 hours ago, Rip255 said:

Its only 500bt. Heaven forbid you actually make a monetary contribution to society somewhere other than a sleazy bar. Wouldnt hurt half of you zero shower barflys to invest in some personal hygeine products either. 

Its hardly going to break the bank. 

I swear the old boys on this forum are as stingey as they are cynical. 

Its not about the 500tbt Rip 255 its the principle of them just scamming money from you because some clown has thought of a new way of extracting cash from a Tourist. Are you happy to be be charged to enter an Attraction when your Thai friend is allowed free because your a tourist, and are you happy to pay 500+ baht for a 2 min journey in Tuk Tuk in Pkuket because your a Tourist.  Its just another rip off next they will ditch the Air bridges at the Airport and charge you to get on the airport bus to take you to the Terminal. If these clowns wanted to attract Tourism back in large numbers they would encourage us to want to come this lot just want want want.

[Marc26]

3 minutes ago, vlad said:

Its not about the 500tbt Rip 255 its the principle of them just scamming money from you because some clown has thought of a new way of extracting cash from a Tourist. Are you happy to be be charged to enter an Attraction when your Thai friend is allowed free because your a tourist, and are you happy to pay 500+ baht for a 2 min journey in Tuk Tuk in Pkuket because your a Tourist.  Its just another rip off next they will ditch the Air bridges at the Airport and charge you to get on the airport bus to take you to the Terminal. If these clowns wanted to attract Tourism back in large numbers they would encourage us to want to come this lot just want want want.

It is a tourist tax inline with pretty much what every other country charges, likely including your own country

How is that a scam?

[Bob20]

9 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

It is a tourist tax inline with pretty much what every other country charges, likely including your own country

How is that a scam?

Because everyone seems to think that here it's not going to be used for the purpose that it's launched for...

[JamesR]

The amount is insignificant and I can't see it putting anyone off from going to Thailand unless they are petty minded of course, I think the departure tax on my flight from the UK is about £180 so another two pounds thee shillings and sixpence will make no difference to me.

Edited October 5, 2021 by JamesR
typo

[JamesR]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

Yes I feel the same. All countries have problems and many are different problems in different countries. If you are lucky enough to come from a well developed country such as the U.K., Australia, US, Japan, South Korea, or most European countries and others, then you can still utilise all that has to offer. When the Frustrations of life or weather in these countries get too much, you can hop on a plane and chill out in the warm weather. The laid back beach style or the non-stop buzz of some of Thailand’s party centres.  I realise that this is not an option for many and nor is it what they want. However, I’m simply saying that if you can retain even a postal address and being on the electoral role back home, it could be something you come to be grateful for in later life, or if the situation changes in what is still a volatile region of the world changes. Just my own personal thoughts and not everyone’s assessment which is fine. 

I agree, I love Thailand and England, I keep property here (UK) as it will be the place I will live once I get old.

You (one) need(s) to keep a foothold in your country of origin as we all suffer from some sort of condition at an old age and as we will not be able to get health cover in Thailand at that point in time  we will have to return home for treatment. 

I have met a few people who 'retired' to Thailand having sold up back home thinking they can live in Thailand forever but once they are in a situation where they need serious medical treatment they have to return home and are then priced out of buying a home again and live in relative poverty for the rest of there lives.

Sorry, it sounds depressing but it is a fact.

Come on Thailand, open up again soon as I need my six month holiday again!

 

[kerryd]

It used to be a 250 baht "Departure Tax" and was payable at the check-in counter. That was back in the early 90s when Don Muang was the main airport.

Back then, you had to have your bags checked and strapped by security before you could get to the check-in counter.
When you went to check-in, they hit you with the tax. If you didn't have the money, you had to leave, have the security straps cut off your bags, go find money somewhere (no ATMs back then and the Exchange Booths closed around 5pm). 
Once you found the cash, go back through security again, get your bags rechecked and strapped and back into the check-in line (at the back of course).

Then they decided to increase the amount to 500 baht, but hid it in the ticket price. Most never even know it's there and it saves the hassle of trying to get broke people to pay it as they are leaving the country.
I recall hearing that it had gone up to 750 awhile ago (many years ago now). Never heard of it going up more but they could do it and no one would even know.

Then what, 2 years ago was the story that "foreigners" (with Anutin no doubt looking directly at "dirty farangs" while talking about it) were leaving over 300 million in unpaid hospital bills. Easy enough to do when you can simply walk out of a hospital without paying.

They decided as they were getting almost 40 million "arrivals" a year, why not add another tax to their plane tickets to cover all those unpaid hospital bills.

Now it doesn't take a Ph.D to figure out that at 10 baht per ticket they would generate more than enough to cover those bills.

But no, they decide it should be 300 baht. Immediately one wonders where all that extra money was going to end up. Instead of 400 million a year, they were looking at collecting 1.2 billion ! 

And that was before they started the whole "400,000 baht insurance policy" nonsense for Non-O(A) visa holders. 

Now it's going up to 500 baht. I guess more people have their hands stuck out waiting for their cut of the cash. 
And that's all on top of the 750 (or 1,000) baht Departure Tax (or Airport Improvement Fee or whatever it's called now).

And it will continue happening so long as Thailand continues to have gov'ts that have NO accountability for their actions.

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by kerryd

[Soidog]

21 minutes ago, kerryd said:

It used to be a 250 baht "Departure Tax" and was payable at the check-in counter. That was back in the early 90s when Don Muang was the main airport.

Back then, you had to have your bags checked and strapped by security before you could get to the check-in counter.
When you went to check-in, they hit you with the tax. If you didn't have the money, you had to leave, have the security straps cut off your bags, go find money somewhere (no ATMs back then and the Exchange Booths closed around 5pm). 
Once you found the cash, go back through security again, get your bags rechecked and strapped and back into the check-in line (at the back of course).

Then they decided to increase the amount to 500 baht, but hid it in the ticket price. Most never even know it's there and it saves the hassle of trying to get broke people to pay it as they are leaving the country.
I recall hearing that it had gone up to 750 awhile ago (many years ago now). Never heard of it going up more but they could do it and no one would even know.

Then what, 2 years ago was the story that "foreigners" (with Anutin no doubt looking directly at "dirty farangs" while talking about it) were leaving over 300 million in unpaid hospital bills. Easy enough to do when you can simply walk out of a hospital without paying.

They decided as they were getting almost 40 million "arrivals" a year, why not add another tax to their plane tickets to cover all those unpaid hospital bills.

Now it doesn't take a Ph.D to figure out that at 10 baht per ticket they would generate more than enough to cover those bills.

But no, they decide it should be 300 baht. Immediately one wonders where all that extra money was going to end up. Instead of 400 million a year, they were looking at collecting 1.2 billion ! 

And that was before they started the whole "400,000 baht insurance policy" nonsense for Non-O(A) visa holders. 

Now it's going up to 500 baht. I guess more people have their hands stuck out waiting for their cut of the cash. 
And that's all on top of the 750 (or 1,000) baht Departure Tax (or Airport Improvement Fee or whatever it's called now).

And it will continue happening so long as Thailand continues to have gov'ts that have NO accountability for their actions.

 

Yes, all these small but multiple costs add up. I sometimes feel sorry for the airlines. If you shop around and flexible with dates, you can get a return flight from London to Bangkok with one stop over usually in the Middle East for a low as £380. That’s £190 each way. By the time you take off all these hidden taxes and landing and handling fees etc, the airline will be lucky to be left with £100 each way. Given you get 2 or 3 meals on the flight plus a degree of free drinks, it’s amazing they make any profit at all…

[RWD]

On 10/4/2021 at 9:58 AM, Mudshark said:

They have a choice?! 

 

Throw out  environmentally - conscious model and you have  "transforming the country’s tourism model from mass market to a more high-value"

That sounds suspiciously like Prayuts plan for high quality tourists. What better way to fund the transition than make 'low class trash that only want to buy sex' pay for it. Then kick the crud out.  I'm pretty sure it will fail, still one should understand exactly what they would do if they could. Better have that Plan B - C - & D ready. 

Yes, exactly.  The theory is to redefine Thailand as a lees disgracing tourism destination,  And  I for one would not miss the crud, the perverts, and seeing less streetwalkers.  Bars exist in other countries.  Why not Thailand start developing that model.  Cleaning up the mean streets is a noble plan.

[Rip255]

The arrogance of the Thaiger peanut gallery knows no bounds. 

Imagine thinking you know better than the authorities who have consistently led the world in tourism year after year after year.

The very same institutions that have created the tourism environment that said peanut gallery loves so much, they either keep coming back or decided to move to permanently.

Ever wondered what 14 cans of beer and an ungrateful attitude get you. Look no further than the posts in this thread. 

[mickkotlarski]

8 hours ago, Marc26 said:

No, the US does it by 3 days, you can take the test on say the 1st at 9am and arrive on the 4th at 10am(73 hours) and be ok

Canada does it by a strict 72 hours. They were checking by the minute at the gate and turning many people away and not allowing boarding......

Basically the US provides leeway, Canada does not

Ohhh. copy that. Yes I see. My appologies.

[Marc26]

29 minutes ago, mickkotlarski said:

Ohhh. copy that. Yes I see. My appologies.

No worries

 

It was ultimately my mistake, only myself to blame

Costly mistake   

[JamesE]

20 minutes ago, mickkotlarski said:

Ohhh. copy that. Yes I see. My appologies.

No. It doesn't matter when you arrive. The tests are taken within 72 hours (AKA 3 days) of departure. The airlines check and you're good to go. Coming back to the US I wasn't asked to show my test results at all.

[Marc26]

34 minutes ago, JamesE said:

No. It doesn't matter when you arrive. The tests are taken within 72 hours (AKA 3 days) of departure. The airlines check and you're good to go. Coming back to the US I wasn't asked to show my test results at all.

From the CDC, they actually specify it is 3 days and not 72 hours to give more leeway

 

Canada is a strict 72 hours, if you are even an hour early, they were denying boarding

They would not if flying into the US

 

Why does the Order specify 3 days rather than 72 hours? What is considered 3 days?

The 3-day period is the 3 days before the flight’s departure. The Order uses a 3-day timeframe instead of 72 hours to provide more flexibility to the traveler. By using a 3-day window, test validity does not depend on the time of the flight or the time of day that the test was administered.

For example, if a passenger’s flight is at 1pm on a Friday, the passenger could board with a negative test that was taken any time on the prior Tuesday or after.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Marc26

[Artemis080]

10 hours ago, Marc26 said:

It is a tourist tax inline with pretty much what every other country charges, likely including your own country

How is that a scam?

This is Thailand. Corruption is endemic and so widespread it is normalised into everyday society and every level of government. That's why.

[mickkotlarski]

1 hour ago, JamesE said:

No. It doesn't matter when you arrive. The tests are taken within 72 hours (AKA 3 days) of departure. The airlines check and you're good to go. Coming back to the US I wasn't asked to show my test results at all.

Just out of interest which US city/town was your point of entry? I imagine the same rules nationwide. 

[Marc26]

4 minutes ago, mickkotlarski said:

Just out of interest which US city/town was your point of entry? I imagine the same rules nationwide. 

They have basically put the airlines in charge of checking covid tests

 

I've flown into Seattle twice(from Canada and Mexico) and my wife flew into Boston (from Korea)

We've both flown from Mexico to US and they did the covid check at the checkin counter 

The border agents don't ask for covid tests because the airlines have already confirmed it at check-in

Edited October 6, 2021 by Marc26

[kerryd]

10 hours ago, Marc26 said:

It is a tourist tax inline with pretty much what every other country charges, likely including your own country

How is that a scam?

It's a scam when they claimed that the tax was to cover the (300 million-ish) in unpaid hospital bills that "foreigners" stick the country with every year - but they expect to rake in over 40 times that amount. 

(40 million arrivals at 300 baht each - 12 billion ! - I previously said 1.2 billion. Missed a decimal point.)

Now it's up to 500 baht/ticket so they are looking at raking in around 20 billion baht a year from that tax alone.

[Marc26]

3 minutes ago, kerryd said:

It's a scam when they claimed that the tax was to cover the (300 million-ish) in unpaid hospital bills that "foreigners" stick the country with every year - but they expect to rake in over 40 times that amount. 

(40 million arrivals at 300 baht each - 12 billion ! - I previously said 1.2 billion. Missed a decimal point.)

Now it's up to 500 baht/ticket so they are looking at raking in around 20 billion baht a year from that tax alone.

Still in line or cheaper than a lot of countries charge

So I couldn't care less......

 

But if some people want to get their panties in a bunch over  $15/30usd, have at it 

 

PS......The taxes charged tourists in other countries goes to all sorts of things not tourism related 

[JamesE]

52 minutes ago, mickkotlarski said:

Just out of interest which US city/town was your point of entry? I imagine the same rules nationwide. 

Seattle. The US likes to do things randomly so I'm sure they check every so often but the rules say "departure" so if that is met (and the US is trusting the airlines to verify) then no problem.

What's going to be interesting is the the EUA for PCR tests expires at the end of December. After that they're not "legally" a COVID test per the FDA. I'm sure there will be new rules but I haven't seen any hints yet. (The US does accept antigen tests but some of the popular  transit countries don't, like Singapore. Should be interesting.

[JamesR]

4 hours ago, kerryd said:

It used to be a 250 baht "Departure Tax" and was payable at the check-in counter. That was back in the early 90s when Don Muang was the main airport.

Back then, you had to have your bags checked and strapped by security before you could get to the check-in counter.
When you went to check-in, they hit you with the tax. If you didn't have the money, you had to leave, have the security straps cut off your bags, go find money somewhere (no ATMs back then and the Exchange Booths closed around 5pm). 
Once you found the cash, go back through security again, get your bags rechecked and strapped and back into the check-in line (at the back of course).

Then they decided to increase the amount to 500 baht, but hid it in the ticket price. Most never even know it's there and it saves the hassle of trying to get broke people to pay it as they are leaving the country.
I recall hearing that it had gone up to 750 awhile ago (many years ago now). Never heard of it going up more but they could do it and no one would even know.

Then what, 2 years ago was the story that "foreigners" (with Anutin no doubt looking directly at "dirty farangs" while talking about it) were leaving over 300 million in unpaid hospital bills. Easy enough to do when you can simply walk out of a hospital without paying.

They decided as they were getting almost 40 million "arrivals" a year, why not add another tax to their plane tickets to cover all those unpaid hospital bills.

Now it doesn't take a Ph.D to figure out that at 10 baht per ticket they would generate more than enough to cover those bills.

But no, they decide it should be 300 baht. Immediately one wonders where all that extra money was going to end up. Instead of 400 million a year, they were looking at collecting 1.2 billion ! 

And that was before they started the whole "400,000 baht insurance policy" nonsense for Non-O(A) visa holders. 

Now it's going up to 500 baht. I guess more people have their hands stuck out waiting for their cut of the cash. 
And that's all on top of the 750 (or 1,000) baht Departure Tax (or Airport Improvement Fee or whatever it's called now).

And it will continue happening so long as Thailand continues to have gov'ts that have NO accountability for their actions.

 

Stay home and moan about petty things there.

 

 

[TheDirtyDurian]

17 hours ago, Soidog said:

I think that’s something I see with this forum. It seems to consists of those who have lived in Thailand a long time or use to visiting for months at a time, and those who are tourists for 2-4 weeks maybe a couple of times a year. I fall in to the former category, and while £12 is not a whole lot of money to me or many other foreigners, it’s tedious to be treated in such a way month in and month out. 
 

Speaking Thai and having Thai friends certainly helps you integrate. As does having working in Thailand. But you are never going to be Thai. You see some foreigners who will even wear the clothes of a Thai, claim to love Pla sauce and even find “somtam not that spicy”.. but it doesn’t matter. You are still the foreigner and still the Farang. It doesn’t matter so much when you are just on holiday. It gets tiresome after a while and I think that’s where the cynicism and negativity creeps in. That’s why I enjoy what I do. 3-4 month 2 or 3 times a year with a gap of around 6-8 weeks back “home”. It resets the mind and actually makes you appreciate Thailand and home far more.
 

Those who are long timers should not get too frustrated with the guys who are more short term visitors and vice versa. Of course not everyone falls nicely in to either camp.
 

Enjoy Thailand for what it can offer you and don’t expect too much. My advice  however is to always keep a lifeline back home. You never know when the situation could change …. 

Don' ting too mutt.

[farang]

marc26,yes i agree  that 500 baht is  not too much if it covers what they say.thats great.i see it listed insurance on visitors.does this mean they will drop the 100,000 usd policy  and the 400,000 and 40,000 thai baht  insurance required for a  o/a visa?i hope so.as of right now if you are 74 or 75 the thai insurance companies wont sell you the required insurance.so how does one whos 75  get a visa?im trying to return in nov  2021 but this requirement has me and quite a few others stuck.any info on that?i would not mind paying 100 usd on entering if they would drop the other insurance.thanks,any reply would be  great.thanks,farang

[Marc26]

7 minutes ago, farang said:

marc26,yes i agree  that 500 baht is  not too much if it covers what they say.thats great.i see it listed insurance on visitors.does this mean they will drop the 100,000 usd policy  and the 400,000 and 40,000 thai baht  insurance required for a  o/a visa?i hope so.as of right now if you are 74 or 75 the thai insurance companies wont sell you the required insurance.so how does one whos 75  get a visa?im trying to return in nov  2021 but this requirement has me and quite a few others stuck.any info on that?i would not mind paying 100 usd on entering if they would drop the other insurance.thanks,any reply would be  great.thanks,farang

That stinks and I really do hope it changes so you can go

I understand your disappointment....

[Soidog]

5 hours ago, farang said:

marc26,yes i agree  that 500 baht is  not too much if it covers what they say.thats great.i see it listed insurance on visitors.does this mean they will drop the 100,000 usd policy  and the 400,000 and 40,000 thai baht  insurance required for a  o/a visa?i hope so.as of right now if you are 74 or 75 the thai insurance companies wont sell you the required insurance.so how does one whos 75  get a visa?im trying to return in nov  2021 but this requirement has me and quite a few others stuck.any info on that?i would not mind paying 100 usd on entering if they would drop the other insurance.thanks,any reply would be  great.thanks,farang

I’m sorry to hear of this dilemma and I’m sure you are not alone. I doubt this 500 baht charge will in anyway change the health insurance requirements you mention?

There are a number of members who are very knowledgeable about visas and you could post a question in that section on the forum. I’ve tagged @Faz here (hope you don’t mind Faz) as he seems to be one such expert and can advise for better than I can.  
 

I may be wrong, but what is stopping you going in on a normal tourist visa. Getting that converted to a Non-O in Thailand (which I believe you can do although some immigration officers will say it’s not possible). Then having got the Non-O you can extended on the basis of retirement? That way I believe you circumvent the health insurance requirements as these only apply to NonOA, though you would still need to prove the income requirements. 

[Faz]

6 hours ago, farang said:

i hope so.as of right now if you are 74 or 75 the thai insurance companies wont sell you the required insurance.so how does one whos 75  get a visa?

Post a topic on the subject here: https://thethaiger.com/talk/forum/82-visas-long-stay-extensions-re-entry-permit/