THAILAND’S TOURIST TAX PLANS IN MID-2025, STARTING WITH AIR PASSENGERS

THAILAND plans to introduce a 300-baht (about IDR140 thousand) tourist tax starting mid-2025. The tax will first be imposed on travelers arriving by air.

The Bangkok Post reported last week that Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said the ministry was finalizing details of the tax plan and would submit it to the Cabinet for approval in January. It will take effect six months after approval.

The tax will initially apply to air travelers, who account for 70 percent of all international arrivals in Thailand.

Tourist tax allocation
Proceeds from the tourist tax will be used to buy insurance for foreign visitors, while the rest will go into a tourism development fund that will be used to improve tourist attractions, including building facilities for the disabled and upgrading public toilets, Nation Thailand reported.

The payment process will be similar to South Korea’s K-ETA registration system, which requires travelers to register and pay online before entering the country.

Once the government approves the project, the ministry will begin recruiting software developers and insurance companies to offer policies to foreign tourists. Premiums for tourists will be limited to no more than 60 baht per person out of the 300-baht collected.

The duration of coverage is 30 days, as 87% of tourists stay for an average of one month or less. Compensation remains the same as Thailand’s previous tourist policy, at 1 million baht for death due to accident and 500,000 baht for injury.

Foreign Tourist Targets
The Thai government expects foreign tourist arrivals to reach 35.99 million by the end of this year, up 28 percent from last year. Tourism revenue is expected to reach 1.8 trillion baht, up 32% from last year. So far this year, Thailand has received nearly 27 million foreign tourist arrivals.

In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand recorded a record 39.9 million foreign visitors, generating 1.91 trillion baht (US$89.1 billion) in revenue. This shows the strong role of tourism in the country’s economy. [sources/photo special]