OPINION

As travellers reel under Covid rules, Thailand adds a new tax

Described as a worthy cause, the government will use the tax on arrivals to restore heritage tourist sites and fund the cost of accident insurance. The travel industry has thrown up its hands in despair.

by Don Ross

Founding Editor TTR Weekly/ Chiang Rai/ January 2022

SEE ALSO Myanmar travel question | Mergui archipelago | Asian dives | Asian cruises | Bali resorts review | Bhutan fun Guide | Cebu/Bohol | Phuket Resorts Review | Palawan Resorts | Sanya Guide | Best Maldives Resorts | Luang Prabang fun guide | Vietnam resorts review

Gullible's Travels: Another small 'giant-killer' tax? Thailand's new entry tax appears to be poorly timed at the height of Covid disruptions and frustrating protocol changes.

Thailand’s Bt300 (US$9) travel tax (April 2022), is a drop in the ocean compared with all the other entry costs imposed on intrepid travellers since Covid-19 disrupted our lives.

Flagged as a worthy cause, the government will use the tax to restore heritage tourist sites and fund the cost of accident insurance for tourists.

But the country’s tourism and hospitality industry is having none of that, claiming the tax is a body blow to travel confidence that is already languishing at ground zero.

E-mail Page Print

On and off the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ agenda for five years or more, the original proposal pegged the tax at Bt500, levied on tourists arriving by air, land and sea. Opposition from the travel industry whittled it down to Bt300 over time.

{A retiree tourist told me he will pay around 1,000 pounds sterling in additional costs to enter Thailand during the Covid-19 pandemic...

Back in pre-Covid-19 days, it would have constituted a windfall if successfully extracted from 40 million tourist arrivals. But for 2022, the tourist arrival predictions are down to five million, although optimists nudge the forecasts up to 15 million, which is highly unlikely. In 2021, Thailand welcomed just 200,000 foreign visitors, and if January is anything to go by, recovery is a none starter as long as the Test & Go scheme sits on the shelf.

But back to the travel tax. Most travellers will cough up the Bt300 travel tax without really noticing it. It joins the Bt700 airport departure tax as a cost added to airline tickets.

Land and sea arrivals will probably be able to pay the tax through an app, or the fallback will be a queue at yet another border checkpoint kiosk. More than 40 countries worldwide collect versions of the so-called tourist tax.

Thailand is not alone but it is the first in Southeast Asia to tax international travellers on arrival. Travel and hospitality industry voices are more concerned about the message the tax sends to international travellers who are already struggling with the high cost of travel to Thailand in Covid times.

A retiree tourist told me he will pay around 1,000 pounds sterling in additional costs to enter Thailand during the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, Covid-19 entry rules demand travellers buy an insurance policy with US$50,000 cover. That can cost from Bt1,000 if you are in your 40s to as much as Bt40,000 if you are over 70.

If you travel to Bangkok and are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, you will need to pay for alternative quarantine in a certified hotel for seven days. It will cost around Bt21,000 for a package that includes meals, two PCR tests and airport transfer. But the PCR test before your board a plane to Thailand is another cost item at around Bt3,500. PCR testing could add Bt7,000 to Bt10,500 to the cost of entering Thailand.

Even if you enter on a one-year retiree visa, you will need to buy a return fare (around Bt16,000 each way). You might not use the return sector, but you must have it to show the immigration officers if they ask to see it.

Yes, the Bt300 travel tax won’t break the bank, but do your sums and compare the cost of entry before Covid-19 popped its head over the parapet in January 2020 with what it costs two years later. Travel is more costly than ever, and most of the damage is attributed to entry fees linked to the pandemic. Is it too much to ask the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to suspend the travel tax until Covid-19 recedes into oblivion? Travellers deserve a small break in entry costs.

Send us your Feedback / Letter to the Editor

▲ top