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'Maintenance Fee' for All Foreign Tourists Proposed by Tourism Governor


webfact

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Let's see now: They just recently added a 'security fee' to airline tickets. They increased entry to tourist attractions/parks to 10x what Thais pay. They want to increase Visa exempt entry from 1000 to 2000 Baht. Now this, what's the word I'm thinking of - oh yeah, greed. What's next, charge for air? smile.png

"What's next, charge for air?" That would go down really well for folks living in Chiang Mai who get poisoned for 2 months every year..coffee1.gif

Make that 6 months or more. Has already started this month. 6 months people in the suburbs cannot or hardly see the Doi Suthep.

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From the linked Khaosod English article:

"He also did the math for its potential windfall.

“If there are 30 million tourists, Thailand will earn 10.8 billion baht per year from this fee, and it will help each province earn around 142 million baht to improve its tourism,” he said."

He is very optimistic isn't he.

Now, I assume, if implemented, all foreigners that enter on a tourist visa or 'visa on arrival', would have to pay this fee.

This means that we would later know, once and for all, if the tourists numbers presented by TAT (23 million or so tourists a year) is

in fact correct (and that they are not just counting every foreigner entering, also those on non-immigrant visas).

It does create a conundrum doesn't it. If they try to nick some of the cash and underreport, then the TAT numbers of arrivals go down. Six of one, half a dozen of another.

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I am surprised that this guy was smart enough not to propose an oxygen fee for tourists for breathing Thai air (the air they have a genuine copyright on). But who knows what the next greedy moron has up the sleeve?

How about a tenfold "maintenance fee" for all Thais who mess up this country with their garbage? That would make Thailand the country with the richest "officials" on the planet.

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Very, very typical of this administration. It seems sometimes, like a creative idea, or a progressive idea would be something so shocking, so out of the blue, and something so completely out of character. They are so lacking in innovation, creativity, the ability to think anywhere near outside of the box, and so fabulously incompetent, that this kind of thing is really anything anyone can expect of them. Such mediocrity, that the people have been cursed with.

Toursim is already way, way down. The numbers may say something else, due to the massive influx of Chinese. But, the tourism income is way, way down. Everyone I talk to in the industry says the same thing. The quality tourists are really starting to shun Thailand. And it is no wonder. Nobody likes a strongman leader (at least in his own mind) and nobody likes a junta. Nobody likes ignorant government officials. Nobody likes a palpable lack of progress. Nobody likes a nearly complete lack of law and order. Nobody likes the threat of arrest, for doing next to nothing wrong, but rather just offending a very small man.

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They could easily recover much more money by revalidating the visa's they have already issued,from within the country and stop requiring foreigners to make Visa runs and pay fees to foreign countries such as Laos and Cambodia. Thailand could levy a similar fee in house and save foreigners the cost of the Visa run.

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...Britains expensive Air Passenger Duty (APD), a departure tax levied on outgoing passengers. The tax is as high as £184 for long-haul business tickets, and comes on top of pricey airport surcharges that, at Heathrow airport,...

Flying in from the UK on business, about 90% of your taxes are paid to the UK. Thailand only asks for the scraps.

Still wanna whine about $10?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/03/britains-exorbitant-airport-taxes

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/business/02fees.html

OK now look at this-

Flight booked Etihad Manchester -BKK return. paid ticket. 18,000 baht. March 1st travel.

Flight booked Etihad BKK--Manchester return paid ticket 27,000 baht Feb......18th travel

Please explain WHY ----can anyone---but give a satisfactory explanation.

Why 9,000 baht extra Thai ticket ??????

'Because they can' is the only one I can come up with...
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It doesn't really matter were it goes you know and I know if you want to come to Thailand you pay one way or another. Unless you want to live like a Monk. Government are governments all around the world always on the hustling to rip a bit more off anybody with a few coins in their pocket.

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Yes and if you want a visa from the Thai embassy you have to go there first , stand in the qeueu for an hour, bring much paperwork, come back 3 days later (travel 200 km again) and get your visa.

Hence people would rather pay 1000 extra.

But South American country's don't make so many problems and are much cheaper so that's where the Europeans will go.

South America for sure not!!wink.png Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam

Laos is landlocked, severely criminalises relationships between Laos and foreigners and most of the hiking land is off-limits due to 'land mines' so unsuitable for most European holidays and Cambodia still has a (partly deserved) fearsome reputation for violent crime. Vietnam: maybe once, but despite the natural beauty of the landscape, the dirt-cheap booze and the endlessly surprising food, Vietnam is a hard country to visit because of the greed of its tourist sector. Thailand has always been the big draw.

Southeast Asia in general will be hurt Thailand's greed.

I'm also guessing that the Chinese government has enough clout in the region to negotiate an exemption for Chinese tourists.

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To me the issue is not so much the money as where does it all stop? The TOT want to upgrade the airport WiFi? Hey, stick 50 Baht on a ticket. The runways need resurfacing? That's another 50, thanks. The IDC needs expanding? 50 more. Extra cleaners need to be hired? You guessed it. These things mount up quickly and people become irritated if it is not just a quick once off money grab. What is to stop every Tom, Dick and Suchart organisation wanting a slice?

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Let's see now: They just recently added a 'security fee' to airline tickets. They increased entry to tourist attractions/parks to 10x what Thais pay. They want to increase Visa on arrival entry from 1000 to 2000 Baht. Now this, what's the word I'm thinking of - oh yeah, greed. What's next, charge for air? smile.png

In Chiang Mai province for example ? whistling.gif

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...Britains expensive Air Passenger Duty (APD), a departure tax levied on outgoing passengers. The tax is as high as £184 for long-haul business tickets, and comes on top of pricey airport surcharges that, at Heathrow airport,...

Flying in from the UK on business, about 90% of your taxes are paid to the UK. Thailand only asks for the scraps.

Still wanna whine about $10?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/03/britains-exorbitant-airport-taxes

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/business/02fees.html

That doesn't surprise me. I used to travel alot but not anymore. i dont like airports and i dont like being overcharged expecially by London cabbie <deleted>.

Tourists/travellers are treated like sheeple. Theyre the most ripped off people in the world economy.

You couldnt pay me to go to the Olympics in Rio later this year. Imagine how expensive hotels and eating out will be. Pickpockets and muggers everywhere. What a mess.

Have you been depressed a long time?

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They could easily recover much more money by revalidating the visa's they have already issued,from within the country and stop requiring foreigners to make Visa runs and pay fees to foreign countries such as Laos and Cambodia. Thailand could levy a similar fee in house and save foreigners the cost of the Visa run.

I've been mentioning this for ages - visa runs are stupid, they just don't make sense and are a massive inconvenience for us and a non-earner for Thailand!!

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