Thailand will be imposing a “tourist fee” of 300 baht (or SGD $11.98) for all foreign visitors entering the country, with effect from April later this year, according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for the government, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, said that the newly imposed fee will be added to airline tickets.
The fee is part of the Thai government’s efforts to make tourism sustainable.
Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports, Phiphat Ratchakiprakarn, said that the money from the newly imposed tourist fee will be used to develop tourist attractions, as well as support visitors who get into accidents, according to The Bangkok Post.
He said that the fee will cover accident insurance for foreigners who can’t pay the costs themselves, adding that they have encountered situations where tourists didn’t have insurance coverage and became their burden to care for.
The country was one of the most popular tourist destinations before the industry took a huge hit because of the covid pandemic.
Thailand saw close to 40 million visitors in 2019, but only had 200,000 visitors last year.
With that being said, Wangboonkongchana said that Thailand is expecting about 5 to 15 million tourists this year, and expects about 800 billion Thai baht to be generated this year (2023).