Bangkok –
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O'Cha decided to delay the proposed 300-baht 'land-entry' fee for international arrivals and an expected 20 million tourists to visit Thailand in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The Prime Minister gave an interview after the general Cabinet meeting this afternoon, May 3rd, that the government had inspected the increase of the export value of incoming foreign tourists which was a good sign.
Moreover, more flights were arranged and tens of thousands of tourists were coming in every day since May 1st. It is expected that domestic consumption, mainly from tourism, would improve as well, said the Prime Minister.
When asked if he was satisfied with the number, the Prime Minister said that he was and explained that if an assessment indicated that the Covid-19 situation was not worsening, then Thailand was likely to welcome about half as many tourists this year than before Covid-19, or 20 million out of 40 million.
Prayut also reaffirmed that no foreign tourist fees or land-entry fees were to be collected, for now. "The Cabinet would look at the suitability before considering the collection because the money must be used to do other things as well. We'd talk about when to collect again, but it was a no for now," he said.