Thailand tourist fee: 300 baht via air, 150 baht via land/sea

Thailand plans to charge foreign arrivals arriving by air a tourist fee of 300 baht (US$9.11) and a fee of 150 baht (US$4.56) for tourists entering the kingdom via land/sea by mid-2023.

The 300 baht tourist fee for air arrivals has been in the pipeline for a long time and is set to be enforced in June after facing several Covid-19-related delays.

However, the Ministry of Tourism wasn’t sure about whether to apply the fee to tourists entering Thailand via land or sea borders.

The biggest concern was that a 300 baht tourist tax could put off Malaysian tourists who are partial to crossing over into southern Thailand via land for short trips of just two or three days. In 2022, Malaysia was Thailand’s No.1 tourism market.

As a compromise, the ministry has halved the fee to 150 baht (US$4.56) for tourists arriving via land/sea.

Minister of Tourism and Sports, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, revealed that the National Tourism Policy Committee convened on Friday to discuss 1) the collection of tourist tax via air and 2) the collection of tourist tax via land/sea…

“At the meeting, we discussed various issues about the collection of the tourist fee (also known as “stepping onto the land fee”) until we came to an agreement. Now, we will seek approval from the Cabinet within the next week.”

Air arrivals exempt from paying the tourist fee include Thai passport holders, airline staff, and infants under two years old.

For arrivals entering Thailand via land or sea, those exempt from paying the fee include Thai passport holders, arrivals entering using temporary border passes, civil servants travelling for work and any employees travelling for day trips.

“All steps have been clearly agreed upon. The draft law is complete and is awaiting Cabinet approval. Then we can proceed with the next steps,” added Phiphat.

It is not yet clear what exactly the collected tourist tax will be spent on. According to Phiphat, the money collected from tourists will be used to support visitors involved in accidents and also to develop tourist destinations.

Source - The Thaiger

#Vietnamese beaches tipped by travelers among best in Asia

#Vietnamese beaches tipped by travelers among best in #Asia: Glistening sands along the country’s central coast have made it onto TripAdvisor’s top 25 beaches on the continent.

Travelers have named two of Vietnam’s beaches among the best in Asia in a recent survey conducted by global travel site TripAdvisor.

Non Nuoc in Da Nang in central Vietnam came in at number 10 on the top 25 beaches in Asia in TripAdvisor’s 2018 Traveler's Choice Awards. An Bang in Hoi An, the ancient town just up the road, claimed 25th position.

 Many travelers said that they had fallen in love with Non Nuoc’s fine white sands and crystal clear waters.

“The sand is so clean and fine my three young kids were able to play on the beach all afternoon bare foot without getting hurt,” said a tourist from Canada.

Although the beach is one of the top attractions in Da Nang, many described how surprised they were to find it so “calm and quiet”.

Some also said that the best time to catch the beach is at sunrise or when the fishermen are setting out to sea.

An Bang, which also made the top 25 last year, also gives visitors the chance to indulge themselves in the simple fishing life, where children gather every sunset to play with kites or just collect shells while they wait for their parents to return from the sea.

For most tourists, An Bang is simply “a beautiful beach”. Some say it’s the most beautiful in Vietnam, with white sands stretching down the coast, a cool breeze and a great selection of restaurants.

The best time to visit An Bang is between May and September, and Non Nuoc between February and August, the tourists recommended.

Thailand proved to be the most popular beach destination in the region with five beaches making it into TripAdvisor’s top 25 list.

Source - BangkokJack

Tourism and marine parks threaten #Thailand's 'people of the sea'

When Sutem Lakkao's grandmother and father died, they were buried much as their ancestors had been: on the beach, close to their beloved boats so they could listen to the waves and watch over the Chao Lay community of fisherfolk in their afterlife.

But when his time comes, Sutem will be laid to rest in a cemetery where all he will hear is the roar of traffic on Phuket, Thailand's largest island and a key tourism destination.

The land in which Sutem's ancestors were buried now heaves with daytrippers taking selfies, while the Urak Lawoi community of the Chao Lay are confined to a small patch of Phuket's Rawai beach that is also claimed by developers and individuals.

"Our way of life of the olden days is gone - when we could fish anywhere, and we had a connection to the land because of our ancestors' burial site and spiritual shrines," said Sutem.

"We do not have that connection any more," he said standing on the sandy beach of Koh He, a small island off Phuket's southern coast, where his ancestors were once buried.

The Chao Lay, or people of the sea, have lived on the shores of Thailand and Myanmar for generations, fishing and foraging.

Some, like the Moken, are nomadic, spending weeks on the sea and free-diving to spear fish. Others, like the Urak Lawoi on Rawai beach in Phuket, have a more settled life while fishing in the Andaman Sea with their traps of rattan and wire.

They grabbed the world's attention in 2004 when they escaped the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami by fleeing to higher ground when they saw the waters recede.

But the community may be facing its greatest threat yet as marine conservation efforts limit their traditional fishing grounds, and a tourism boom pits them against developers keen on the patch of land that their boats, homes and shrines sit on.

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At the heart of the struggles of the Chao Lay - also known as "Sea Gypsies" - is not just their right to the sea and land, but also a more fundamental question of legality and identity, said Narumon Arunotai at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

"Their culture and traditions are not protected by the Constitution, and they do not have title deeds and permits, so it is difficult for them to assert their claim," she said.

"But they were there long before the tourists and the conservationists. If managed well, indigenous rights can go well with conservation and tourism," she said.

Across the world, indigenous people are fighting for the recognition of their rights to land, forest and water.

While they own more than half the world's land under customary rights, they have secure legal rights to only 10 percent, according to Washington D.C.-based advocacy group Rights and Resources Initiative.

 

 From Peru to Indonesia, laws aimed at conserving forests are leading to the evictions of indigenous people. 

 The Chao Lay's right to the sea is even more tenuous as they often lack permits and licences for fishing, and get arrested or fined for straying into newly established marine protected areas or island parks that authorities say are key to conservation.

The Chao Lay in Phuket, which lies about 700 kilometres (430 miles) southwest of Bangkok, face more than two dozen cases related to encroachment of land and trespass of national parks.

Two families on Rawai beach lost their cases, and have to leave the homes in which they had lived for about 40 years.

Source - TheJakartaPost
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