Thailand considers charging foreigners entry fee

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Thailand considers charging foreigners entry fee

(Xinhua) 18:24, October 21, 2013

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Thai government is considering a plan to charge foreigners a 500-baht (16 U.S. dollars) entry fee from January next year, according to Public Health Minister Pradit Sintavanarong.

Pradit said on Sunday that officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Ministry of Public Health and the Royal Thai Police had discussed the matter and all agreed with the idea.

They expected the extra charge would lead to an increase in the quality of tourists entering Thailand, he said.

"The tourism and sports minister (Somsak Phurisrisak) told me that every other country is collecting entry fees from foreigners, " Pradit said.

"The money will be used for many purposes by the tourism, health and foreign affairs ministries, and the Immigration Bureau, " he said.

The health ministry would gather relevant information and help the Ministry of the Interior in legislating the law. The collected fees would go into the national budget coffers before they are transferred to different agencies, he said.

He expected the new entry charge would take effect from Jan 1, but it could be put off to mid-January because there would be many tourists entering the country at that time and they might get confused, he said.

Foreigners who stay in Thailand no more than three days would be charged 30 baht a day, while those who stay more than three days would have to pay 500 baht, he said.

According to reports, foreigners who arrive at airports would be charged 500 baht, while those who enter the country by land would be charged 30 baht a day.

（Editor：DuMingming、Zhang Qian）