Thailand wants to increase its tax revenues. It has just decided to impose a new tax from June. Foreign tourists could be targeted, enough to bring in several hundred million euros a year.
There has been a debate in Thailand for years about taxing foreign tourists. The authorities were already talking about it in recent years, but there was the Covid pandemic. Thailand then closed its borders like most Asian countries and the project was shelved.
But now that the country is fully reopened and tourists are returning in droves, the government thought it was time to act. This year, Thailand hopes to attract 25 million people and, quickly, it expects to regain its pre-pandemic performance, that is to say at least 40 million visitors per year. By way of comparison, France has around 80 million foreign tourists a year.
Eight euros tax
These tourists are not going to buy a special entrance ticket when they arrive at their airport. The government will, in fact, add its tax to the price of plane tickets. It provides a tax of 300 baht per arrival, it is a little more than 8 euros. If you are an expatriate, working locally, you will not pay this tax. There will be no tax either if you are only in transit at Bangkok airport.
The authorities have started to make their calculations, they estimate that the new tax, which will be put in place on June 1, will bring in at least 115 million euros this year. But it will be much more when the number of visits returns to its pre-pandemic level.
The concern of tourism professionals
For tourism professionals, this could discourage people from choosing Thailand as a destination. But the government does not really believe this argument and says that it needs these sums for several projects. Part of the amount collected must be used in particular to finance the health expenses of tourists on site.
Many tourists travel without proper medical insurance and hospitals end up with bills that no one wants to pay. The money from the fee will help cover these costs. The money should also be used to help develop more sustainable tourism. The idea is to finance new tourist areas to prevent travelers from all ending up in the same places to the detriment of the environment. Before the pandemic, Thailand had to close some very famous sites because the impact of tourism there had become unbearable.