I would put the link on here but I don't know how. Yesterdays Bangkok Post carried a story that from either the beginning or the middle of January next year ALL tourists entering Thailand will have to pay a 500baht 'health tax'. The only exception being that if a tourist stays for less than 3 days it will be 30 baht per day. This comes from the Thai health ministry but is opposed by the Thai tourist board. The say the tax will encourage more quality tourists but the money collected will go into the government coffers.

Hi Guilliver,

I asked one of my colleagues about this and she has forwarded me an alert that has been issued by ABTA - please see the following;

"As you may be aware, various media streams are reporting that Thailand will be introducing a Tourist Tax from January 2014.

We have been in communication with the Tourism Authority of Thailand today to confirm details, and they have advised that whilst the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Tourism & Sport are considering this idea along with other options, a bill is not yet approved and is still to be passed by the government.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand wish to stress that whilst a tourist tax will not be implemented in January 2014, it is possible that in the future this may be introduced but they will keep us fully informed of any developments, if this occurs."

Kindest regards,

Julia

For info, I read the following travel report in a newspaper today:

"The Thai government is considering introducing a tourist tax of about £10 per head from early next year. It says the fee will cover unpaid medical bills by visitors who don't have the correct travel insurance - a problem it says costs around 200 million baht or £4 million a year. It also hopes the fee would encourage more 'high-spending, long-term visitors'."

I suppose this is having a dig at the student backpackers. Some of the Italian regions already charge a tourist tax to pay for their antiquities and museums and of course the UK Government is considering charging tourists for medical treatment here. The dire economy is global!

Regards

Sylvia

Hi the reasons given sound reasonable! And £10 isn't much...

Cheers,

Bob