Thailand will reportedly introduce a $14 entrance fee to foreign visitors in 2022.- The fee will go towards a "
tourism transformation fund," the Bangkok Post reports. - The fund will help the country recover from mass tourism.
Thailand will reportedly introduce an entrance fee in 2022 as part of a bid to transform the tourism industry.
According to the Bangkok Post, visitors will be charged 500 baht, or around $14, which will go towards a "tourism transformation fund." The fund will aid projects that "transform the industry" with a focus on high-value and sustainable tourism, the publication reports.
The publication added that The National Tourism Policy Committee approved the fund earlier this year, and the proposed fee was initially 300 baht, or around $8, per person.
Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said that the additional 200 baht, or around $6, will fund projects in the private sector that will help the country restructure from mass tourism, as well as tourism-focused initiatives with an environmental focus, according to the publication.
Supasorn said the goal is to collect 5 billion baht, about $147 million, in the fund's first year, with a prediction of 10 million foreign arrivals to the country in 2022.
"The projects should be co-creations and the government should use the fund to support projects that can create an economic impact. The proportion of public-private financial support could be 50:50, 60:40, or 70:30, depending on how much we want to make those projects happen," Supasorn told the publication.
The TAT did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.