A plan to charge foreign visitors with tourism tax was once again defeated after Thailand’s prime minister finally decided not to continue following a wave of negative reactions.
Implementing an entry fee for foreign arrivals was a plan that took years in the making.
Current and previous governments attempted to propose and impose the plan but to no avail.
The plan failed as the parties involved never reached a consensus on how to best implement it without disturbing the flow of arrivals and potentially discouraging tourists.
According to Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the fee has been hugely unpopular with many parties involved, debating on the matter.
The prime minister believes the energy spent on debating the controversial fee would be better spent encouraging tourists to come to Thailand. In that way, it can generate more revenues than pushing for a meager 300 Baht tax.
A few weeks ago, Thailand received international recognition after the international online travel booking Agoda named it a top choice among European tourists in Asia.
It remains to be seen if the controversial fee will be brought up once more by the next administration.
