The Thai government has announced that it will impose an entry fee on all foreign visitors to the country, which will come into effect from June 1, 2023.
Visitors arriving by air will be charged 300 baht, while those arriving by land or sea will have to pay 150 baht. The fees will not apply to holders of diplomatic or official passports, foreigners with work permits, day trippers, transit passengers, children under two, or individuals categorized by the national tourism committee.
According to Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the fees will be known as Thailand Traveller Fees (TTF) and are expected to generate 3.9 billion baht in revenue in 2023. Part of the earnings will be allocated for health and accident insurance for tourists during their stay.
The move follows concerns that the government had to subsidize medical treatment for foreign tourists in state hospitals worth about 400 million baht from 2017 to 2019.
The Chief of the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) reported earlier that the agency was facing challenges in receiving payments from foreign patients or their relatives, even with the assistance of a claim center dedicated to following up on payments. (NNT)
