Thailand To Charge Tourist Entry Fee of 300 Baht From Foreign Tourists Starting April

The Govt. of Thailand is planning to impose an entry fee of 300 Baht ($9 or ₹665) from foreign tourists arriving into the country starting April 2022, said, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana in a statement on Wednesday.

The fees will help fund the development of local tourist attractions and an insurance program for visitors, the spokesperson added.

Thailand Tourist Entry Fees

The Tourist Entry Fees comes as a part of the Tourism and Sports Ministry’s promotion plan for 2022, themed “Amazing Thailand New Chapter”. This fee will help fund the development of local tourist attractions and an insurance program for visitors.

Notably, the Tourist Entry Fee will be added to air ticket prices from April, while the method of collections from the entry of tourists who enters by land has yet to be determined.

The plan for entry fee comes as the Southeast Asian nation attempts to chart the course for its tourism sector after the pandemic. The country has been experimenting with various plans to revive its travel industry with limited success. 

The entry fee has been in discussions for a long time, its implementation was delayed by Covid, said Suthipong Phuenphiphop, a vice president of the Tourism Council of Thailand.

The levy is similar to charges on tourists in many other countries, and the benefits that will come from the initiative will be huge compared to the nominal fee, he said.

Thailand End Quarantine Free Travel

It is worth mentioning that on 22nd December, due to the rising number of Omicron variant cases in the country, Thailand’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has ordered the for all new TEST&GO and Sandbox applications (except Phuket Sandbox).

However, the country is now planning to add more tourist destinations this week to its quarantine free travel ‘Sandbox’ program to keep the industry afloat.