A powerful combination of foreign airlines, international travel agents and lobbyists have persuaded the Thai government to withdraw the proposed 300 baht (US$9) entry tax on "tourist" foreigners arriving by air. Also cancelled is the proposed 150 baht on land or sea arrivals.
Deputy minister of tourism and sports, Jakraphon Tangsuttitham, told the press this week that the timing was inopportune, but the scheme "might" be brought back in the summer or autumn of 2026. This marks the last of several failed attempts to introduce a "charge for landing on Thai soil".
The tax was first envisaged eight years ago to raise revenue. The initial idea was to install booths at entry points into the kingdom to collect the cash. But the scheme fell through because of fears of tediously long and chaotic immigration lines as arrivals waited for change or had trouble processing their credit cards for small amounts.
In 2021 prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha revived the plan, but again it collapsed because of the confusion about who would need to pay. Thai passport holders, diplomats and foreigners with Thai work permits were exempted. Thus airlines said the idea of adding the fee to all inbound air tickets was impractical because of the detail.
Moreover, longstay foreigners holding retirement or student visas were devastated to learn they were "tourists" for this purpose with a fee to pay on every entry. The more recent advent of Destination Thailand Visa holders, who have five year multi-entry passes but have to quit Thailand once or twice a year, creates yet more controversy.
The current plan, now discarded, envisaged the raised cash to be divided between restoring tourist sites (building toilets at temples or cleaning relics etc) and instituting medical insurance for some tourists during their first month of stay. Such cover would be discretionary and require an enormous bureaucracy.
Expats would not be included, whilst visa-exempt tourists who committed an offence (eg not wearing as crash helmet) would not have any chance post-accident. Many private hospitals expressed doubts about the sketchy details. Inpatient hospital cover in Thailand for foreigners is not compulsory except for a small number of visas including the 10- year Long Term Residence, retirement O/A visas originally awarded by Thai embassies and work permit holders.
Travel agents generally have welcomed the collapse of the current proposal. Grant Silvers, representing the US-based Exotic Tours and Travel, said, "We desperately need good news about travelling to Thailand and this cancellation certainly falls into that category." And so say all of us.
