Initially approved in February 2023 by the previous governmentThe plan was to charge 300 baht for foreign visitors arriving by air and 150 baht for those arriving by land or sea, with part of the funds earmarked for health and accident insurance for foreign tourists. However, the the implementation date has been postponed several timesfor a variety of reasons.
The ghost of Covid-19 still looms
First and foremost, due to the pandemic. In the end, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports decided to postpone collection of the tax, expressing concern about its potential impact on the Thai tourism industry.
The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol, pointed out that although the fees are not high, they could influence the travel plans and feelings of foreign tourists. She explained that the tourism sector needed more time to recover from the pandemicjustifying the deferral of the tax. The Minister also indicated that the Ministry would seek to obtain a budget of 50 million baht to cover costs in the event of foreign tourists becoming injured or ill during their stay in Thailand.
At the cabinet meeting of December 19, 2023, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin instructed the Ministry to design a insurance plan to guarantee the safety of all tourists during their travels. The Ministry is exploring various alternatives to offer insurance cover of 500,000 baht per person in the event of injury, and 1 million baht in the event of death resulting from an accident. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister expresses the wish to extend this coverage to all tourists, which will require in-depth discussions with the relevant authorities and the Office of the Insurance Commission to define the appropriate plan and budget.
Srettha Thavisin also stressed the need for the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to collaborate with the Ministry of Public Health to implement public health measures. He also called on cooperation with the Royal Thai Police on immigration issuesto ensure the safety of tourists.
In May 2023, Yuthasak Supasorn, the former governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), announced that the fate of the tourist tax would be decided by the new government, as the collection methods had not been defined.
Cautious players
Yuthasak Supasorn had also stressed that tourism industry players were calling for a more flexible scheduling when the Ministry of Tourism and Sports had planned to start collecting the tax in June 2023. He noted that the votes were mainly in favor of postponing the tourist tax until the industry fully recovers, a outlook for 2024.
During the 2023 holiday season, the current governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, reported an estimated 1.18 million foreign tourists, marking a increase of 56 % compared with the same period in 2022. She also pointed out that revenues from foreign visitors during this period were estimated at 41.7 billion baht, representing a up 60 % on the previous year.
Fill in a file from e-Visa Thailand
English 
Français 
Deutsch 
Italiano 
Español