Thailand will consider increasing its long-planned foreign tourist entry fee from 300 baht, Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said on Wednesday.
He said the tourism tax — first proposed in 2020 but never implemented — could be higher than 300 baht because of inflation and rising insurance costs, in order to extend coverage at private hospitals.
The majority of the revenue from tourism fees would be allocated to tourist insurance, with the remainder used to maintain tourist attractions and improve infrastructure, authorities have said.
Mr Surasak made the comment a day after the government announced it would scrap 60-day visa exemptions for travellers from 93 countries, another long-planned move made in response to concerns about an increase in illegal activity by foreigners.
He said his ministry is now finalising details of the fee collection method to ensure it does not affect traveller sentiment.
He said there are two collection options: via airline tickets or through the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) system.
Airlines have said they cannot discriminate by taxing foreign passengers and excluding Thais, which means the government might have to collect the tax from all passengers and allow Thais to obtain refunds via an application later, he said.
The alternative would be to levy the tax through the TDAC system, which all foreign visitors are required to submit upon arrival.
In any case, the final amount of the fee will depend in large part on the projected costs of accident insurance and treatment at private hospitals.
Unpaid medical bills by foreign visitors cost Thai hospitals around 2.5 billion baht per year, studies have found.
The ministry plans to discuss an appropriate insurance premium with the Thai General Insurance Association at the next stage, noted Mr Surasak.
Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said the ministry needs to clarify what types of incidents would be covered by the insurance fund. Authorities should also decide the exact proportion earmarked for major infrastructure projects, he added.
For instance, authorities should assess which types of incidents involving foreign tourists place a burden on hospitals, and whether the policy will also cover events such as floods, train construction accidents, or motorcycle crashes involving riders without licences.
Visa-change timeline
Authorities are also working out the timeline for ending the 60-day visa exemption for 93 countries and reverting to 30-day and 15-day allowances, and visa-on-arrival arrangements similar to those in place in 2024.
Mr Surasak said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the lead agency in the national visa policy committee, needs to coordinate communications with the foreign ministries of other countries.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports plans to ask the visa committee to adjust the scheme for selected countries.
For instance, India is a top-five source market for Thailand but its citizens only qualify for visas on arrival. The ministry favours a 15-day visa exemption for this market, said Mr Surasak.
Meanwhile, the ministry has asked the Tourism Authority of Thailand to revise its goals and strategy for 2026 as the prolonged US-Iran conflict could result in foreign arrivals missing the target of 33 million.
Mr Surasak said the shortened visa exemption period should not affect arrivals because the average stay for most foreign tourists is only nine days.
