Thailand proposes $17 fee to fund tourism upgrade

BANGKOK – Thailand is reviving its proposed 450-baht ($17) fee on foreign visitors as a long-term source of funding for insurance, destination renewal and a shift towards higher-quality tourism, with officials warning that continued dependence on increasingly limited state budgets could leave the industry at risk of stagnation.

Revenue would be channelled into the Tourism Promotion Fund to support tourist attractions and infrastructure, environmental restoration, research, workforce development, tourism promotion and assistance for local communities.

The fund would also finance insurance and health protection for foreign visitors. The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) has estimated that the fee could generate about 10 billion baht in off-budget revenue for the tourism industry.

Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said the prevailing view was that Thailand needed a dedicated fund to finance improvements across the sector.

“The figures clearly show that, without such a fund, Thailand’s tourism industry is approaching saturation or could begin to decline,” he said.

“Relying on a state budget that becomes more limited each year would create greater constraints on competitiveness. The government therefore intends to secure off-budget funding to drive and upgrade tourism in every area.”

A permanent fund for quality tourism

The government wants to move Thailand’s tourism industry towards a higher-value and more sustainable model, rather than relying primarily on continued growth in visitor numbers.

Under the proposal, part of the money collected from foreign visitors would be used to restore and improve tourism infrastructure, destinations and the environment. Funding could also be allocated to developing tourism workers and helping local communities accommodate visitors more sustainably.

Foreign tourists would receive insurance coverage during their stay, replacing reliance on the existing assistance arrangements used to compensate or support visitors following accidents and other incidents.

Officials argue that the insurance component could also ease pressure on the public health budget.

The state currently covers an average of 300-400 million baht a year in medical expenses incurred by foreign nationals when hospitals are unable to recover the full amount owed.

The ministry has also noted that more than 40 countries impose taxes or fees on visitors in various forms, with revenue used to develop destinations and restore tourism resources.

The policy has been linked to the Polluter Pays Principle, under which people using resources share responsibility for conserving them and restoring those that have deteriorated.

Recovery remains vulnerable to external shocks

Plans to introduce the fee were put on hold when the Covid-19 crisis struck in 2020, as foreign tourist arrivals collapsed and the industry focused on restoring travel demand.

International arrivals eventually recovered to about 35 million in 2024.

Thailand encountered further difficulties in 2025, including the effects of an earthquake and concerns over tourist safety early in the year. Those problems particularly affected confidence in sensitive markets such as China, although the country still received nearly 33 million foreign visitors.

In 2026, geopolitical tensions and the conflict involving Iran have weakened the outlook for long-haul travel from the Middle East and Europe.

Confidence among Chinese travellers has gradually improved, however, and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports expects total foreign arrivals in 2026 to remain close to the 2025 level.

The levelling-off of visitor numbers has strengthened the government’s argument that the next stage of tourism development should focus on visitor quality, infrastructure, environmental management and the distribution of tourism benefits rather than arrivals alone.

How the proposed fee would operate

Under the draft announcement, each foreign visitor would pay 450 baht.

A single payment would allow the visitor to enter and leave Thailand several times without paying again during a 30-day period. Insurance coverage provided under the scheme would remain in effect during that period.

Collection would begin with travellers arriving by air. Natthriya Thaweevong, Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports, said the government expected air-arrival collection to begin in 2027.

The measure would take effect 180 days after its publication in the Royal Gazette.

Land and sea collection would be introduced later following a preparation period of about 360 days. Natthriya said those entry channels were more complicated because authorities would need to consider congestion at border checkpoints.

She cited the Sadao checkpoint in Songkhla province, which handles large numbers of Malaysian tourists, as one location requiring careful planning.

The draft exempts:

The payment system must be designed to minimise inconvenience for foreign tourists. The draft allows the fee to be paid through one of the following methods:

Industry supports fee but seeks oversight

Weerasak Kowsurat, a former tourism and sports minister and chairman of a working group on the creative economy and visitor economy, met leading tourism businesses at ATTA’s offices on Aug 25 to discuss the proposal.

He argued that tourist fees of about 300-400 baht generally had little effect on travel demand, particularly as several other countries had also increased their charges.

Thailand might lose some travellers who were highly sensitive to price, he acknowledged, but he argued that the industry would have to accept that possibility as it moved towards quality tourism.

“If someone cannot afford a fee at this level, that may tell us something,” Weerasak said.

“The Thai tourism industry may have to accept losing part of the price-sensitive market, but the fee would also help screen tourists at the same time.”

ATTA told the meeting that the levy could provide the tourism industry with access to about 10 billion baht in off-budget government revenue for the first time.

The association called for tourism businesses to be given a role in decisions over how the money would be spent.

ATTA also noted that the Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports, who chairs the fund committee under the relevant law, had previously expressed concern over whether such a large pool of money could be managed effectively.

Weerasak proposed stricter transparency requirements than those normally applied to public funds. Stakeholders could be permitted to observe all discussions and decisions concerning the fund, even without voting rights.

He also suggested that meetings could be made publicly accessible through CCTV broadcasts.

“The management and spending of the fund must be transparent and more open to the public than usual,” he said.

Cabinet approval still required

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports opened a public hearing on the draft announcement by the National Tourism Policy Committee from Aug 24 to Sept 28.

Comments can be submitted through the government’s central legal consultation platform and the website of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports.

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun, who chaired the National Tourism Policy Committee’s first meeting of 2026 on Aug 14, said the consultation findings would be returned to the committee for consideration.

The committee must then approve the proposed operating framework before the plan can be submitted to the Cabinet for formal approval and eventual implementation. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK