Transcript of the above video: 

If you can't tell from the title of this video, I think this is a horrible idea setting up this Tourist Tax; I've done other videos on this in the past. This has come up and then it's sort of gone by the wayside and it's come back and it's one of those things I wish would really just go away because I think it has a detrimental impact on especially the optics for those who want to be tourists in Thailand. I think it possibly discourages them from wanting to come here. This in conjunction with the discussion on the Electronic Travel Authorization in my opinion, is just a classic example of a bunch of bureaucrats running around, coming up with ideas that are going to have nothing but a negative impact on the overall private sector. So let's dig in here. Buckle up, this is going to be kind of a long one.

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the title is: Tourism Tax to start with air travel. So again, we have talked about this before. They have discussed it and they get really obvious obfuscatory if you will a little bit in this article. I don't know who's doing that but there's a little bit of trying to say "well it wasn't really us!" Let me just get into it. Quoting directly: "Collection of the 300 Baht travel-tax may start with air passengers in the first phase, with the system needing at least six months before starting, according to the Tourism and Sports Ministry. The Ministry is revising details of the program and will submit it for Cabinet approval in January..." So first of all, the thing to understand - let's not get too hyperbolic - this will be submitted for approval in January meaning it will be adjudicated whether or not they're actually going to promulgate any of these rules at that time. So, for now we don't have to deal with it, but it's going to come back to the foreground again in January. That said, quoting further: "..said Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong." This is sort of where I get kind of miffed if you will at the way that this was written. Let me quote: "Even though this project was approved by the previous Government led by Prayut Chan-o-cha in February 2023, it now requires a consensus from the new Cabinet as the Administration has changed since the general election." Well why are you trying to put it off on that Government. Yes they did come up with a consensus on this; they were moving on it and then they lost the next election and now we have a new Government; that's how it works. By the way, you might want to perhaps take a clue from the fact that they didn't win. Could it possibly have to do with this policy? I'm not saying it did, it could have had to do with a lot of things, but maybe think about the fact that the last crew that was talking about this, didn't end up continuing with it for a reason. This is not good policy. If you can't take that from the implied sort of tone of my voice, this is not a great idea for a variety different reasons that we will get into. It's not even going to be used for the purpose it is ostensibly going to be used for, seemingly from this article. Meanwhile it could have a tremendous detrimental impact on demand for tourism to Thailand as it just throws people off. Meanwhile, if this is going to be done in conjunction with the Electronic Travel Authorization which is to create a digital ring fence around Thailand and then it is going to tack on this Tourism Tax before you even hit the country, I can't imagine that's going to have positive implications for the Tourism Sector here in the Kingdom, as I said, I will get to here in a moment. Meanwhile they are not even using it for ostensibly the reason that they say they are. Quoting further: "Once the system settles, the second phase covering overland travel will follow, he said. According to the Ministry, air travellers account for 70% of foreign arrivals to Thailand. The transaction system has been prepared and is powered by Krung Thai Bank. Tourists can pay via website or an app that is being developed for the next phase, said Mr. Sorawong. Payment would be similar to South Korea's K-ETA registration system.." Yet another reason I don't travel to Korea. In fact I was just about to go to Korea and for a variety of reasons I didn't end up going, but I have got to be honest with you, one of the things was I went and looked up the visa requirements to go to Korea and even on my Thai passport, I have got to get online and go deal with their Electronic Travel Authorization. It was just one more thing that made me say "you know what? I don't need to go to Korea. If you make me go through all this bureaucratic nonsense before I even get there, I don't want to know what it's like once I get there, whether or not it's bureaucratic." It probably isn't but I just don't want to deal with it. Meanwhile, why are we putting all of this onus onto proposed tourists to get what 300 baht out each of them, which again it's kind of nebulous. I did another video on this - is it 300 or 450? I'm not real clear on which one it is. In fact it's been my experience that if there are two numbers and one is higher, defer to the higher one if you're going to presume which number the Government is going to take; that's in any context, that's not just for Thailand. But that said, again to cite the Koreans "well they're doing it!" - this is a manipulative technique - "well they're doing it, so why don't we do it?" Well, you know. I love the line from The Sopranos where there's a great scene where they are talking to Phil who is sort of the acting boss of the New York family and they were talking about the New Jersey family and one of them suggests "Oh, we can just whack the boss,"  that's what they said, "we can whack the boss".  He said, "No, no, I don't agree with that." One of the other guys says: "Well it's been done before." And he turns around and says: "and it was wrong then." Okay, so just because the Koreans are doing it that's not some compelling reason why the Thais should be doing it and honestly, it did deter me from going to Korea, at least discourage me. It wasn't the sole reason I didn't end up going, no pun on the 'sole' reason but again I didn't go, and it did factor in. So I think folks who are thinking about this officials etc., would be wise to deeply consider the possible negative knock-on ramifications of bringing a system like the ETA in. That said, quoting further: "..which requires foreign travellers to register to make an online payment before entering the country." Again, yeah it's similar to what Thailand is trying to set up, but again I think this is a bad way to go. Quoting further: "Once the Government approves this project.." - again it's not even approved, so that's the thing to take away from this video. Foreigners who are freaking out or whatever, this hasn't been approved. The soonest it could possibly be approved as we discussed already, would be Jan 1 of 2025. Quoting further: "Once the Government approves this project, the Ministry will start a procurement process to recruit software developers and insurance companies to offer insurance policies for foreign tourists, he said." 

Now see okay, this gets into the heart of the matter. First of all I always love that, "oh we're bringing in a bunch of bureaucratic tyranny but we are going to create a bunch of jobs." Yeah, useless jobs that suck off of the productive capacity of the overall economy, so let's be real clear about that. Secondly, the other thing to bear in mind is all of this is predicated upon the notion that foreigners come in here, they get injured, they get sick and they avail themselves of the medical system here in Thailand, and so that medical system, we need to have some kind of sort of economic offset for the usage of that infrastructure. Now to be clear, when it pertained to the retirees going back some five years ago, and they talked about bringing in insurance and things because those folks taxed the medical system, I could kind of see the argument a little bit better. Just generally tourists, I fail to see that, and meanwhile other nations have tourists too. You don't see them try to hunk off a vig of everybody coming into the country in order to offset that. But meanwhile, it doesn't really offset it to the extent that they're saying or at least implying. Quoting directly: "The insurance premium for tourists is capped at no more than 60 Baht per person, out of 300 Baht collected." So out of the equivalent roughly US$10, two bucks only goes to the insurance, the ostensible reason for creating the tax in the first place; only 20% of the money that's going to be generated - they are saying it here - is even going to go to that ostensible reason. Quoting further: "The duration of protection is 30 days..." The Visa Exemption itself is 60 with an option to extend by another 30. So again, what is the purpose of this? Of the tax and the so-called coverage? Quoting further: "...as 87% of tourists have an average length of stay of no more than a month, with compensation remaining the same as previous Thai Tourist policies, at 1 million Baht in the event of death from accident, and 500,000 Baht in case of injury." But they are coming in for 60 days, only covered for 30 and of the 300 their ponying up, only 60 is going for this insurance. Quoting further: "Mr. Sorawong said the Ministry might propose adjustment of the fee collection to 300 Baht for all ports of entry to prevent accusations of discrimination.." Oh no, we are not discriminating against anybody. We are fleecing everybody equally. I mean, come on!! Quoting further: "... as the previous government set the land and sea arrival rate at only 150 Baht." So that seems we were this150 or 450 versus 300 stuff is coming from. Quoting further: "According to the Ministry's study, people who frequently cross borders for trade purposes will not be affected as they can use a Border Pass to be exempt from the levy." Meanwhile the question remains, so is this going to apply to everyone? You say it's for tourists, what about Non-Immigrant Visa holders? We discussed in prior videos there's a lot of apprehension amongst especially retirees who tend to travel a lot more in the region because they have more time on their hands. Somebody like me who came out here to work, I got here, I started working, I was chained to a desk and still am most of the time. A lot of the retirees get to travel around. Every time they come in, are they going to get whacked with 300 Baht in a fee just from coming in? Again, there's no clarification regarding Non-Immigrant Visa holders who I would argue shouldn't be part of this in the first place. They actually live here and contribute. Okay maybe retirees a little bit more indirectly but frankly it’s a substantial amount of contribution, let's not get nitpick it too much. Meanwhile, those who are maintaining Business Visas and Work Permits here in the Kingdom, at the end of the day, we're already paying taxes and stuff, why are we getting thrown under this bus?  

Long story short, this whole thing looks very odd to me. Meanwhile it's not really paying out the way that they are saying it is paying out, and I think it could have detrimental consequences for the Tourism Sector generally. I am really hoping cooler heads prevail and we put this on the back burner yet again.