Thailand: Tourism fee of B300 set for Q3

The 300-baht tourism fee is scheduled to begin being collected between August and September this year using the Thailand Tourism Fee (TTF) system implemented by airlines. Airlines raised concerns about the budget for the system and manpower to handle the process, as they are still struggling with the pandemic impact and weak passenger flows. "The tourism fee is in line with the revised National Tourism Policy Act of 2008, which granted permission to set up the fund from the fees collected from foreign visitors. The fund will be used to develop tourist sites and offer tourists insurance," said Chote Trachu, permanent secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry. He said the fee is meant to help tourists in case of emergency, such as a sudden sickness, accident or political unrest while travelling in Thailand. Mongkon Wimonrat, assistant tourism permanent secretary, said the TTF system will integrate with airlines' websites to display an additional screen for fee collection for foreign passport holders. People exempt from the tourism fee collection include diplomats, government officials, people with work permits from nationalities under a memorandum of understanding with Thailand, and children under 2 years old. Speaking at a meeting with airlines on Thursday, Mongkon said airlines have to help screen tourists who pay the fee before issuing tickets, submitting the final passenger manifest to the data link 15 minutes after flights take off.<br/>