In Brief
– The Revenue Department is consulting until October 29th on a draft tax of 1,000 baht for every air departure, for Thais and foreigners. Comments are open at rd.go.th/68716.html
– Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said it could push Thais toward domestic trips. The Association of Thai Travel Agents called it another layer on top of airport charges.
– English-language replies under Thai news posts were almost entirely negative, including under us at The Pattaya News.
– A separate 450-baht foreign entry fee is also only a proposal. It still needs Cabinet approval and publication in the Royal Gazette before anyone pays it.
In Full
Bangkok: A Finance Ministry proposal to charge 1,000 baht every time someone flies out of Thailand drew a sharp response on October 7th from travel agents, citizens, and from foreign tourists and expats, who treated the idea as one more cost stacked onto a trip that is already getting more expensive.
The Revenue Department opened consultation on September 30th on a draft Departure Tax Act. The hearing runs through October 29th. Unlike the 1983 decree, which covered Thai nationals and resident foreigners, the new principle would apply to every nationality. Air departures would be charged first, at 1,000 baht, with a legal ceiling of 5,000 baht.
Land and sea exits would be exempt at the start. Children aged two or under, transit passengers who remain airside, and crew on duty would also be exempt. Airlines would collect it with the ticket. The law would take effect 180 days after any Royal Gazette notice, and tickets bought before that date would not be charged. The hearing page and comment form are here.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas defended the draft on October 7th. He said a charge on outbound trips could encourage Thais to holiday at home and keep spending in the country. Thai business coverage led with that case and with the industry reply.
The Association of Thai Travel Agents objected the same day. Secretary-general Adith Chairattananon said foreign visitors already pay Airports of Thailand an international passenger service charge of 1,120 baht, raised in June, and may later face a 450-baht entry fee. He put a combined figure at about 2,570 baht for a foreign air passenger and about 2,000 baht for a Thai passenger paying the airport charge and the new tax. ATTA called the layers uncoordinated, said they would hurt competitiveness, and prepared a letter to the Finance Ministry. Its board was due to discuss the draft on October 8th.
That 450-baht figure is not a bill anyone can be charged yet. Tourism officials have a draft for eligible foreign air arrivals, with land and sea collection delayed about a year, and they have spoken of a possible start in 2027. An online hearing from August 24 to September 28 drew 5,954 responses, 80.5 percent of them in favour of the draft and 78.3 percent in favour of the rate. Support in a hearing is not approval. The fee still has to clear the National Tourism Policy Committee and the Cabinet, then be published in the Royal Gazette. Collection would begin only after the notice period in that publication, previously described as 180 days for air arrivals. Until then it remains a proposal.
Foreign comment on the departure tax was much colder than that hearing. Under The Pattaya News post asking whether readers agreed, replies were almost uniformly against the idea. One British commenter called an entry tax plus an exit tax “the usual madness,” and said the sum was trivial but the signal was not: that Thailand was slipping out of step with the region and putting Bangkok’s role as a hub at risk. Other replies were shorter and sarcastic, including a suggestion that passengers should have to insert a 1,000-baht note to reach the last escalator at Suvarnabhumi. A German resident writing in German called the charge of about 25 euros for a resident to leave on holiday absurd, and something he would expect from German politicians.
A minority pushed back on the outrage and said 1,000 baht was about 30 US dollars, that Japan already has an exit charge, and that many Asian fees are simply built into the ticket. Those were the exception. The visible tone on English-language Thai news accounts was rejection, not a split verdict.
Thai social traffic has been thinner than the trade reaction. Shares of the ATTA objection circulated, but the Revenue Department has not published a running count of formal comments. The channel that counts for the draft is the department form, open until October 29. Background on the proposal is here.