Let's talk tax... ugh.. There is a rapidly growing worldwide trend of countries charging a tax on tourists. Thailand is one of the latest, in an expanding list, to table legislation imposing a levy on holiday goers entering the country. Let's look at the reasons behind these proposed taxes and discuss if they will effectively address the issues at hand.

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Tourist Tax

While some countries have been imposing a tax in one form or another on visiting foreigners for years now, 2019 has seen an unprecedented spike in this governmental practice. With countries obviously taking cues from each other and falling in line, it's safe to say that Tourist taxes are not going away anytime soon.

Politically, It is a delicate line to walk. There are many varying reasons motivating it's implementation, as well as tactics for collecting it. Most governments proffer one of two driving forces to justify their tax on tourism. One being to combat overcrowding in popular tourist destinations, while the other is meant to collect income that will go toward improving tourist facilities and services.

Thailand has been mulling a tourist tax for a few years now, but a new piece of legislation passed earlier this week will finally allow the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to actually start levying and collecting a tax on tourists entering the country starting on October 1st of this year.

A mere six months away, the government and research partner Naresuan University have to start hammering out the details of this law fast.

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As far as the reason behind this goes..some clauses enacted in the National Tourism Policy Act last Wednesday, "allow the ministry to outline strategic tourism development plans and set out tourism safety standards and measures." src

Basically, their angle will most likely be to tout the tax as a revenue maker for creating new tourist attractions, as well as maintaining and up keeping existing ones. They might also claim it as a means to provide obligatory travel insurance for tourists.

However, there are more than a few concerns that float to mind as the intricacies of this bill remain to be thrashed out.. such as..

1. How much? This is likely to be an apprehensive point to a lot of people.. many Southeast Asian countries like Laos and Malaysia have a tax that adds up to a few dollars a night; whereas, European countries tend to reach the $10-$20 dollar range. I think if Thailand wants to focus on keeping the tourist industry their bread and butter, they should keep the fee modest.
2. ..to whom? Again this is a sticky issue.. is this a tourist tax? or will is spill over to a foreigner tax which tend to include expats who pay taxes and already have to show insurance to stay in the country. We already are subjected to two-tier pricing at entrances to national parks and pretty much everywhere else in the country.. will we also be subjected to pay tourist taxes? which leads me to..
3. How? As in how will the tax be extracted? The cost of setting up manned booths at airports and border crossings lead to a whole heap of problems. Aside from not being economically feasible (have to pay to construct and operate them), having a box full of cash lying around at the end of the day is rather tempting to most officials in this country.. a dip into the box occasionally can add up to large disparities over time. Forget charging fees electronically, it's unreasonable to require your average backpacker to have access to digital funds. Including the fee as an airport tax might work, but then people will resort to border crossing.. Besides, there are enough airport taxes as is. A lot of countries have opted to add the tourist tax into accommodations.. leaving the hotels and guest houses to manage them. I can already imagine the disaster that arrangement would lead to in this country..

_{[The thai on the sign reads "Children 10 Baht, Adults 20 Baht" What are the prices in English?]}src

A further issue to consider is: "Will the money actually go towards what it's slated for?" This county, as in many others, has a dubious history of collecting money in the name of one thing, only to have that money.. um.. diminish greatly as it trickles down the ranks to it's intended target.

Case in point, Thailand spends over 20% of its national budget (nearly 5%GDP) on Education, among the highest expenditures in this sector in the region.src Yet, the students consistently score among the lowest on standardized tests in English, Math, Science, Reading and Writing.. Having been in the trenches as a teacher in Thai schools, I can attest that the amount of funding that actually reaches governmental schools is minuscule. (the incoherent ways with how it's ultimately implemented is another problem.)

Considering that Thailand received over 38 million visitors last year, and expect over 41 million this year.. it's a potentially HUGE market for the government.. but how much safety will this tax actually buy tourists? and How much will the tax equate to actual development in the tourist sector remains to be seen.. But going by their track record, I'd say.. 'Not much..'

Which means, unfortunately, the tax will probably unintendedly have the second result: deterring high numbers of tourists from entering the country. Thus, shooting the whole economy in the foot. Doh!

I would say, Thailand should impose the tax on the Tourism Industry, i.e. tour operators, etc. Also nightly taxes tacked onto 5 star resorts wouldn't hurt. Finally, increasing entrance fees into national parks/monuments could be twofold in generating revenue and reducing the damage done to these national treasures by reducing overcrowding.. The money should be used in preserving these monuments, and Thailand's beautifully cultured history along with them.

But.. that's just my two cents..

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Do you have any opinion on the matter? Do you live in a country that charges tourist tax or perhaps you've been on the receiving end while traveling? Does it work? Is it fairly implemented? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Until then...