Thailand to Charge Foreign Tourists $9 to Enter the Country

Thailand is one of the most loveable and preferred places in Asia to visit at least once in a lifetime. But now, to recover the pandemic hit on its travel and tourism industry, it’s all set to charge the foreign tourist entry fee of 300 baht or $9 from April 2020, as per Thailand’s new rules for foreign tourists. 

It’s the place that is broadly tourism-based and had 2 Lakhs arrivals last year as compared to the arrivals in 2019 that were nearly around 40 million. The Governor of Thailand’s Tourism Authority, Yuthasak Supasorn has said that “We’ve encountered times when insurance didn’t have coverage for tourists … which became our burden to take care of them.” So, these charges are meant for the tourist to take care of them and provide them with safe and better services. 

The recently required fees have been incorporated in a list of payments related to COVID-19 that includes hotel accommodation, isolation and quarantine, covid tests and also the insurance of $50000 for covid treatments. Moreover, to curb the spread of covid’s new variant i.e., Omicron, Thailand has suspended its quarantine-free visas for now and will be implementing the fees starting from April 2022. This matter was in discussion for a long time and has decided to be in effect after two months. 

Thailand is in a hope of having 5-15 million foreign arrivals this year that’s why, the fees of $9 will get added to the cost of airline tickets and will also be a part of its government sustainable tourism plans.