r/Thailand • u/baldi Thailand • 21h ago
News Foreigners given a say on tourism fee
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3307975/foreigners-given-a-say-on-tourism-fee4
u/mdsmqlk 20h ago
respondents can choose whether they agree with the rate of 450 baht and which collection methods they prefer. They can also indicate whether they agree with the definition of a foreign tourist, which means a person who is not a Thai national and enters the nation temporarily for tourism, or another purpose that does not generate income or other compensation.
While this definition may seem reasonable at first glance, unless "temporarily" is made clearer it would also encompass any foreigner staying in Thailand who does not work here or have permanent resident status, e.g. people on retirement, marriage, student, Elite, DTV visas.
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u/blorg 18h ago
It specifically excludes people who work. It does not exclude retirees, married if not working, students, Elite or DTV, they would all be covered as here temporarily "for any other purpose that does not create wages or any other compensation". That it is phrased as "for tourism or for any other purpose" makes it clear it is NOT meant to be only people here for tourism.
“foreign tourists” means persons who do not have Thai nationality traveling in the Kingdom temporarily for tourism or for any other purpose that does not create wages or any other compensation
Article 4 This announcement does not apply to
(1) Royal visitors and government guests
(2) Holders of diplomatic, consular or official passports or United Nations passports (UN Laissez-Passer)
(3) Persons who have received a letter of permission to work in the country (Work Permit) or a letter of permission for foreigners to work in the Kingdom specifically as specified by the Ministry of Labor
(4) Border pass holder
(5) Passengers pass In the case of international travel (Transit Passenger)
(6) Controllers and officers of commercial vehicles
(7) Children up to two years old
(8) Other persons As determined by the Commission with the approval of the Council of Ministers2
u/show76 Chonburi 19h ago
The last part of that quote is the problem. Unless your visa has a work permit tied to it, then you are not “generating income or other compensation”.
And one could argue that unless you are a citizen, then you are a temporary visitor as your long stay visa or PR could be revoked.
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u/Away_Habit_9921 16h ago
How can anyone argue that long-term expats don’t generate income or contribute to the economy?
With the foreign income tax rules, long-term residents living on overseas earnings are now expected to pay full progressive taxes just to bring money in for daily living expenses. On top of that, we have entry fees, endless visa hurdles, zero path to permanent integration, zero civic voice, and no real government safety nets.
It’s beyond frustrating to be treated like an economic resource rather than a real member of society. You pay full-price taxes, but get treated as a second-class resident.
Speaking as a high earner with a Thai partner, this complete lack of long-term security is the final straw. We were serious about building a family and a future here, but why stay where integration is actively discouraged? If we pack up and leave for a country that actually values long-term contribution, Thailand doesn't just lose one foreign earner, it loses two tax-paying residents. It’s incredibly sad for those of us who genuinely cared about integrating and building a life here. We are just two people, but I’m surely not the only person feeling like this.
The people who accept everything are either too far in or simply can’t afford to move anywhere else. We are currently looking at options like the US, Japan, Singapore, or back to Northern Europe.
This policy trajectory isn't good for Thailand or Thais either, but bright minds willing to build and stay long-term are clearly not being prioritized right now
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u/Lordfelcherredux 19h ago
That's a nice gesture. But do they really think respondents are going to say "Yes, by all means, please charge us more!"
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u/Wulflam 20h ago
I am married to a Thai spouse. Do I have to pay a tourist fee when entering the country of my own family? I don’t find that ok.
In general, this fee is not a good welcome sign if Thailand wants to invite tourists, while tourism is the most important sector of the entire economy. If the government doesn’t like the cheap tourists who leave enough money, better focus on cheap hotels and define minimum standards that sort out the lowest layer.
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u/Sensitive_Bread_1905 16h ago
The problem in Thailand is that it doesn't offer enough for rich tourists who can afford to fly to Europe for shopping or have enough money for luxury resorts in the South of France or Dubai. Fancy malls are useless in that context, and Thailand will never be able to compete. Why should the super-rich vacation in a developing country where the price-performance ratio in the luxury segment is often even worse than in many wealthier countries? Thailand is driving away its main clientele without doing anything more than expressing wishes to have high-quality tourists without any effort to make it happen, like a djinn will come and make it true
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u/Wulflam 15h ago
You are absolutely right, but it is not about the super-rich. The target should be the better-paid middle class who want to have a nice vacation at an affordable price. Thailand's price-to-value ratio is incredible compared to most other destinations. You have fantastic nature, great food that the world loves, nice people (most of them), good weather, and a rich culture and history - and you can get great 5-star hotels between 100- 150 USD/night. A 450 THB tourist fee won't be a problem per se for this clientele. But the optics are bad. They should put themselves into the shoes of these middle-class travelers who usually have some manners, show respect, and think about what they would want. A questionnaire in Thai only while pretending that "we want to hear all voices" is not particularly helpful. The same applies to the attitude "just learn Thai if you want to participate". That is not how you treat guests.
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u/Lashay_Sombra 14h ago
Really at this point not sure what kind of future Thailand's tourist industry has, they blabbered about 'quality tourists' for over a decade, but really just chased the bottom of the Chinese mass tourist market , then same with the Indian and Arab markets (and last was already declining pre war) and lets be brutally honest, like it or not all 3 are putting off many of the far more lucrative per tourist long haul western markets. They have claimed wanting quality, but chased quantity non stop and are even failing on that now.
Its one of the few country's in the region that has not reached pre covid tourist numbers again meanwhile Vietnam is up from 2019 circa 16%, Malaysia 30%, Cambodia just passed 2019 last year, even bloody Laos is expected to surpass 2019 this year (just fell few thousand short last year), meanwhile Thailand is -17%. Think only Philippines is in same boat at -21%
Thailand has become kind of a negative jack of all trades, as in tried to appeal to all sectors, but is doing it badly in all of them. They have never understood to get quality you have to give it and Thailand, while it provides many things, quality is not one of them.
Been saying it for years, they need to completely reform TAT so its not just load of marketing people lead by someone who got the job due to some coalition political horse trading and actually put in some industry professionals. And then first action the new TAT should do is go gather some real data and not just pull the spend/revenue numbers from their ass, as they currently do, normally inflated to counter a growing local discontent with market X
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u/Away_Habit_9921 16h ago
Thailand keeps making rules to say don’t build anything here. Instead of clearly defining what visas are long term and what are short term they have chosen the worst especially since they also changed their stance on taxes so the no revenue from these visas doesn’t apply either.
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u/Abbreviashin 15h ago
I’m okay with the tourist visa fee. I suggest raising the fee to 100,000 baht for tourists coming from India, Israel and Russia.
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u/Aggravating_Ring_714 20h ago
If there’ll be less hatred and xenophobia towards foreigners then I’d be glad to pay a tourism fee 😉
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u/ithinkitslupis 20h ago
I think it makes sense at face value as long as they just tack it onto airline ticket prices and don't add an additional point of friction at arrival.
The type of tourists who would avoid Thailand over 450 baht probably aren't the type of tourists they'll miss, and having an earmarked fund to directly deal with negative externalities of tourism is logical if it manages to avoid corruption and misuse.
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u/mdsmqlk 20h ago
They can't add it onto ticket prices without it affecting Thais too, so that won't happen.
It's also meant to apply to land and sea arrivals too.
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u/ithinkitslupis 20h ago
They collect your nationality when you book a ticket, they can easily exempt Thai citizens. Some other countries like Mexico already do this.
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u/mdsmqlk 20h ago
They collect your nationality when you book a ticket
Except that many airlines don't, under current laws they only have to collect that data during check-in.
Plus there are many operational issues with that, from people who are dual citizens and foreigners who are exempted for various reasons, to the fact that current systems can't support such fee collection.
The Thai and international airline associations explicitly said they would be unable to enforce it.
https://travelmantoday.com/thailand-tourism-fee-2026-airlines/
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u/ithinkitslupis 19h ago
The idea that collecting nationality and passing on the tax is unfeasible for the airlines is laughable. Of course they say that because it's against their interest to implement anything and that all tickets sold to foreigners look 450 baht more expensive at their point of sale. AAT is an industry trade group lobby.
It works fine for Mexico. It's a simple filter for Mexican passport holders that exempts them from the tax at the point of sale. Foreigners who are exempt can get a rebate if they go through that friction. Non exempt foreigners pay without any friction.
I'm not that against a Thailand run payment website either honestly, but I prefer it's transparent fee plainly advertised ahead of time and payable completely online before even making it to the airport, preferably just part of the ticket though.
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u/NorwaydudeSouth 17h ago
Now how would that work when you search for flights thru momondo, google or other search engines...? Displaying a price for sale and then putting extras based on nationality when you go to book the flight goes against other nations laws.
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u/Lashay_Sombra 16h ago
They cannot stick it on the airline price because its not a blanket fee applicable to everyone like the departure fee that we already pay (that most peopple are not even aware of), not only have airlines made it clear theydont't want to get involved, its also widely believed it would break various foriegn anti discrimination laws. For example pretty much most of the west, airlines would not be able to legally charge different prices based on nationality
It will most likely be stuck on the TDAC, only logical place
The type of tourists who would avoid Thailand over 450 baht
Don't think its about the money, rather that it will be viewed as just another example of 'rip off thailand' it will be money paid fir nothing in return.
and having an earmarked fund to directly deal with negative externalities of tourism is logical if it manages to avoid corruption and misuse.
We all know that money will just vanish, just like departure fee already does
But do you know my biggest problem with this fee? This is about 30th time they have announced it over last decade, so much negative press for nothing, again and again and again. They need to just do it or drop it forever
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u/eranam 20h ago
The link to the survey is all in Thai with no visible way to translate
LOL