Thailand to start collecting entry fee from foreign tourists early next year

Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan said on September 5 that the Cabinet may be requested in October to approve collection of entry fees from foreign tourists, expected to be implemented early next year.

Pipat said the Naresuan University is studying the appropriate entry fee rate for foreign tourists arriving by land and the study should be done within this month.

Then, the entry fee rates will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval in October, Pipat said, noting that once approved, the rates will have to be published in the Royal Gazette and they will take effect 90 days later.

The minister said the enforcement of entry fee rates on foreign tourists will take effect early next year.

The National Tourism Policy Committee approved the Tourism and Sports Ministry’s proposal to collect a 300-THB (8 USD) fee from every tourist entering the country in January.

But Pipat later said it would not be fair to use the same rate for tourists who arrive by different modes of transport, so he had assigned the university to study the appropriate rate to be collected from tourists arriving by land.

Pipat said tourists who arrive by land tend to stay for a shorter duration than those arriving by air.

He said the entry fee would be used to buy insurance for foreign tourists so that the government would not have to solely shoulder costs of treatment of foreign tourists injured in accidents.

He revealed that the government spent about 300 million to 400 million THB each year for treating injured foreign tourists before the COVID-19 pandemic./.