Cabinet approves tourist fee of 150-300 baht for all foreign tourists

[reader]

From Thai PBS World

The Thai cabinet has approved the collection of a landing tax, ranging from 150-300 baht, to be collected from all foreign tourists visiting Thailand, tentatively from June 1^st, as proposed by the National Tourism Policy Committee.

The landing tax for foreign tourists arriving by land and sea will be 150 baht per head and 300 baht for arrivals by air. The tax is, however, not applied to those who hold diplomatic passports, work permits or special work permits for specific professions as stipulated by the Labour Ministry, children under two-years-old and transit passengers.

The cabinet also instructed the Immigration Bureau to streamline its regulations and conditions regarding immigration documents and relevant immigration laws, under which receipts for tourism fee payments can be used by the tourists when applying for re-entry permits.

Tourism and Sports Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn explained that the landing tax will be used for domestic tourism development and for insurance coverage for tourists while they are in Thailand.

[floridarob]

on top of the other taxes and fees already loaded onto a ticket......some instances these taxes/fees account for  more than the airline gets for the flight.

[vinapu]

49 minutes ago, floridarob said:

.....some instances these taxes/fees account for  more than the airline gets for the flight.

correct, on my recently purchased ( see my last trip report ) ticket Phnom Penh - BKK  with VietJetAir out of 80$ price only 29 was actual airfare 

[bkkmfj2648]

wait until they figure out to calculate our individual carbon footprints - then the tax will be relative to our individual carbon footprint scores.

[khaolakguy]

To be fare(sic) the Thai passenger duty on a recent return UK to Thailand ticket was a small fraction of the charges levied by the UK.

[floridarob]

5 hours ago, khaolakguy said:

To be fare(sic) the Thai passenger duty on a recent return UK to Thailand ticket was a small fraction of the charges levied by the UK.

The UK is at the ridiculous end of the scale....

[unicorn]

Most countries seem to apply departure fees/taxes. I just looked this up on wikipedia. It seems Thailand's the only country to have both a departure and an arrival tax:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departure_tax

[reader]

In his column in today's Pattaya Mail, Barry Kenyon reports that expats will not be exempt from the fee.

"Some press reports maintain that “expats” in general will be exempt. In reality, long stay retirees, married foreigners, Elite card holders and students have not been given an opt-out. The term “expat” in this context means “those paying Thai income tax on earnings” and rules out any foreigners without a blue book issued by the Department of Employment – with the exception of diplomatic passport holders and infants.

With tourism again booming in Thailand, up to 4 million baht may be gathered for the Thai treasury in under a year. The money will spent mainly on improving tourist infrastructure, according to previous remarks by the Tourist Authority of Thailand, but around 10 percent will be available on a discretionary basis for public hospitals which have failed to get seriously ill or deceased foreign patients to pay their bills.

The policy does not mean that foreigners in any shape or form will be relieved of the need to buy medical insurance. The fund is not a welfare scheme and hospital compensation will be limited to special or notorious cases, such as major traffic accidents or environmental disasters with multiple loss of life, for which special permission from the government will need to be sought by the hospital in question. There will likely be further clarification of the detail once the policy is publicized in the Royal Gazette.

Worldwide, travel taxes are becoming more common. Bali already has such a tax added on to all flight tickets, whilst the Philippines wants to introduce one to develop “local culture”. The European Union will tax non-EU nationals by November 2023 but will exempt babies and those over 70. Many Caribbean destinations already charge an entry fee, ranging from US$12 to US$50."

[vinapu]

all we can do is gnash teeth and pay. At 300 baht  fee is relatively modest, equivalent of boy's drink in Banana Club or two servings of chicken with cashew nuts at world famous 7.5 stars Foodland Patpong 

[zoomomancs]

As long as collecting it doesn't create another queue for us jet lagged and exhausted travellers.

[vinapu]

12 minutes ago, zoomomancs said:

As long as collecting it doesn't create another queue for us jet lagged and exhausted travellers.

I guess , at least for those arriving by air , 300 will be included in price of ticket

[Keithambrose]

4 hours ago, vinapu said:

I guess , at least for those arriving by air , 300 will be included in price of ticket

So, the airline will have to work out if you. Are exempt or not?

 

I have just booked for BKK next January, no arrival tax, will someone in authority work that out, and levy it on arrival? Unlikely. 

[reader]

I believe that the fee applies only to tickets sold on or after June 1.

[vinapu]

by January 2024 they should be able to iron it out. If you already booked , my guess will be you are lucky or airline will pay for you in due course

[vinapu]

2 minutes ago, reader said:

I believe that the fee applies only to tickets sold on or after June 1.

that would make sense and make things easy too

[reader]

From Bangkok Post